Recent Ebola Vaccine Trial Shows 100% Efficacy

Scientists have taken the biggest step to date towards putting an end to the deadly Ebola virus which has plagued western Africa. The news came this weekend when it was announced that the preliminary trials of a new experimental drug proved to be 100% successful in preventing subjects from contracting the disease.

The trial took place in Guinea and encompassed more than 4,000 individuals. Although the initial results show 100% protection for those injected with the vaccine, experts warn that this figure will more than likely fall when a larger test pool is trialled. However, as the first evidence that it is in fact possible to shield people from the disease, it must be seen as a major breakthrough.

“An Extremely Promising Development”

Ever since the outbreak of the virus back in December 2013, scientists have been scrambling for an effective vaccine to stop its spread. In September of last year, a panel of experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) sanctioned the use of experimental and unverified treatments  in an attempt to curtail the effects of the disease.

Back then, WHO said it hoped that a licensed vaccine could be available to all by 2016. At the time, such a supposition appeared to be optimistic in the extreme; however, if all goes well with this latest vaccine when it is tested on a larger sample number, they may have reached their goal.

Dr Margaret Chan, who is the incumbent director general of WHO, was very positive about the developments. “This is an extremely promising development,” announced Dr Chan on the WHO website. “The credit goes to the Guinean Government, the people living in the communities and our partners in this project. An effective vaccine will be another very important tool for both current and future Ebola outbreaks.”

Certainly, such progress is most welcome in the fight against the deadly disease. Back in October, the United Nations (UN) claimed that $1 billion would be necessary to defeat the virus. This latest breakthrough might help to reduce that figure significantly.

The “Ring” Technique

Taking inspiration from a technique used to eradicate smallpox, the study gave the experimental vaccine to the friends and family of a person who has been diagnosed with Ebola, in an attempt to cut off its most likely avenues of transmission.

One trial group were given the vaccine immediately after the patient’s diagnosis, while another were made to wait 10 days before vaccination to try and remove doubt from the results. The outcome, seen here in the Lancet, is very promising. While 16 people from the second group who were made to wait contracted the disease, not a single case of Ebola was reported from the first group.

Because of this astonishing success, the second group will be dropped from all future trials. The important thing now is to establish whether or not the vaccine will be as successful on a larger test group – and how long it is effective for. Up until this point, it has been shown to work “very well” for as many as three weeks. It remains to be seen whether it can continue to protect beyond that timeframe.