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WHO says millions of Ebola vaccine will be ready in 2015

Discussion in 'Immunology and Rheumatology' started by Hala, Oct 25, 2014.

  1. Hala

    Hala Golden Member Verified Doctor

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    Millions of doses of experimental Ebola vaccines will be ready for use in 2015 but it is not clear if any will work, the World Health Organisation has said.

    There is currently no proven vaccine against the deadly virus and drug companies have previously avoided investing too heavily in a cure because outbreaks before this year's had been small.

    Now, the UN health agency has said doses of two experimental Ebola vaccines will be ready for use next year but have warned they are not a 'magic bullet'.

    The two experimental vaccines, produced by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and the Public Health Agency of Canada, are already in safety trials.


    The GSK vaccine is being tested in Mali, the UK and the US. Research on the Canadian vaccine is also under way in the US with further trials expected to start in Europe and Africa soon.

    The results are expected in December. After that, trials will move to countries affected by Ebola, probably starting with Liberia.

    That will allow researchers to assess how effective the vaccine is and what dose is needed to provide protection.

    Five more experimental vaccines will start being tested in March.

    However it is not known whether any of these will work against the deadly virus that has already killed at least 4,877 people this year in West Africa.

    WHO assistant director general Marie-Paule Kieny said: 'Before the end of first half of 2015...we could have available a few hundred thousand doses. That could be 200,000 - it could be less or could be more.'


    She was speaking after WHO held talks about potential vaccines with health experts, officials from Ebola-affected nations and pharmaceutical firms.

    WHO believes that up to 1.4 million people could have been affected by 2015 and there are also fears the virus may be used as a weapon of bio-terrorism.

    'The vaccine is not the magic bullet. But when ready, they may be a good part of the effort to turn the tide of this epidemic,' Dr Kieny said.

    If early data from the ongoing tests are promising, larger trials in West Africa would offer the shot to health workers and others at high risk of catching Ebola as soon as December, she said.


    Bertrand Draguez, medical director for Doctors Without Borders, said: 'The message we heard from WHO that the people fighting the epidemic will be among the first to test Ebola vaccines and treatments is exactly the one we needed to hear.

    'This needs to be followed by a massive roll-out of vaccines to the general population once their efficacy is proven.'

    US firm Johnson & Johnson have already said they aim to produce at least one million doses of their vaccine next year and UK-based GlaxoSmithKiline is also working on a vaccine called ChAd3.

    In Brussels on Friday, the European Union and its 28 member nations managed to create a one billion-euro fund to fight the Ebola outbreak.

    Britain's contribution of £205million was the largest among the EU nations.

    'Helping West Africa to cope with the crisis is the most effective way to prevent a serious outbreak of the disease elsewhere,' the EU leaders said at the end of a two-day summit. 'The scale of the epidemic is a threat not only to the economy and the stability of the affected countries, but also to the region as a whole. '

    In Beijing, China's president pledged to provide £50million in aid to help fight Ebola.






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