Scientists Create Effective Ebola Vaccine, Just A Couple Years After Deadly Epidemic

Researchers have crafted an effective vaccine that can halt the horrifically deadly Ebola virus in its tracks, according to a new report published Thursday by leading global health organizations. The experimental vaccine ― which has not yet been approved by any regulatory authority ― has already completed successful trials in Sierra Leone and Guinea, among the hardest hit countries during the epidemic. Not a single subject given the vaccine developed Ebola, according to research published in The Lancet by scientists from the World Health Organization, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and other groups.  The news comes just a couple years after a 2014 epidemic in West Africa killed more than 11,000 people, including one in the United States and several in Europe. “While these compelling results come too late for those who lost their lives during west Africa’s Ebola epidemic, they show that when the next Ebola outbreak hits, we will not be defenseless,” Marie-Paule Kieny, the WHO’s assistant director general for health systems and innovation and the study’s lead author, told The Guardian. The creation of such an effective vaccine in near light speed is “remarkable,” scientists say, and an emergency stockpile of 300,000 doses has been created in case of another outbreak, The New York Times reports. But while the vaccine had 100 percent efficacy among the nearly 6,000 test subjects in Guinea who received it, NPR ...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news