Cornering Ebola

The World Health Organisation has reported the successful trial of Ebola vaccine in Guinea that was 100% effective. The vaccine protected two study groups from getting infected who were potentially exposed to the Ebola virus.

The first group involved vaccinating 4,123 persons who were in close contact with people infected from the virus. Surprisingly, none of them were infected with the virus. The second group involved vaccinating 3,528 people three weeks after they were potentially exposed to Ebola virus. In this group only 16 people caught the virus while the remaining were protected within six days. It is believed that the delay caused in reaching out to people with the vaccine was the main reason behind 16 people attracting the virus.

The study published in The Lancet states that vaccination is the best strategy to corner Ebola virus and prevent it from spreading. The vaccine known as VSV-ZEBOV is currently undergoing trials in younger patients and if everything goes well then it could become the first licensed vaccine against Ebola. The deadly disease has killed 11,200 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since its inception in 2013.

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