As Ebola outbreak rages, vaccine is 97.5% effective, protecting over 90K people
Enlarge / A nurse working with the World Health Organization (WHO) shows a bottle containing Ebola vaccine at the town hall of Mbandaka on May 21, 2018 during the launch of the Ebola vaccination campaign. (credit: Getty | Junior D. Kannah)
An experimental vaccine against the Ebola virus is 97.5 percent effective at preventing the disease, protecting well over 90,000 people in the massive, ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to preliminary data.
The outbreak has flared since last August, involving 1,264 cases (1,198 confirmed; 66 probable) and 814 deaths (748 confirmed, 66 probable), making it the second-largest Ebola outbreak recorded. So far the outbreak has stayed within the DRC's North Kivu and Ituri provinces, which sit on the eastern side of the country, bordering South Sudan, Uganda, and Rwanda. But, response efforts have been severely hampered by community distrust of public health campaigns. One result of this distrust has been several attacks by militants on medical facilities, injuring medical staff and, in one case, killing a police officer. Some public health experts fear the outbreak will continue to spread without new strategies and more aid, possibly across nearby borders.
Still, the outbreak could have been far worse if it had not been for an experimental vaccine. The rVSV-ZEBOV-GP Ebola vaccine, made by Merck & Co, contains a live attenuated virus harmless to humans that researchers genetically engineered to carry an Ebola glycoprotein. Ebola usually uses this protein to interact with human cells, but in the vaccine, it triggers the human immune system to generate powerful antibodies to attack the virus. Early tests of the vaccine seemed to confirm this, suggesting it is safe and effective. And a World Health Organization Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) has given responders the greenlight to use the vaccine during outbreaks, based on an Expanded Access/Compassionate Use protocol.
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