- An experimental Ebola vaccine appears safe and triggered
signs of immune protection in the first 20 volunteers to test it, U.S.
researchers reported Wednesday.
The vaccine is designed to spur the immune system's production of
anti-Ebola antibodies, and people developed them within four weeks
of getting the shots at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Half of
the test group received a higher-dose shot, and those people
produced more antibodies, said the study published in the New
England Journal of Medicine.
Some people also developed a different set of virus-fighting immune
cells, named T cells, the study found. That may be important in
fending off Ebola, as prior research found that monkeys protected by
the vaccine also had that combination response.
Stimulating both types of immune response is "a promising factor,"
said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases, whose employees led the work.
The researchers reported no serious side effects. But two people who
received the higher-dose vaccine briefly spiked fevers, one above 103
degrees Fahrenheit (39 Celsius), which disappeared within a day.
Earlier this month, Fauci told Congress this first-stage testing was
promising enough that the U.S. planned much larger studies in west
Africa, starting in Liberia in early January, to try to prove whether the
vaccine really works.
Scientists are racing to develop ways to prevent or treat the virus that
has killed more than 5,600 people in West Africa, most of them in
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Wednesday's publication offered scientific details about the initial
testing of the vaccine candidate furthest along, one being developed
by NIH and GlaxoSmithKline. Additional safety studies are underway
here and abroad. A different Canadian-made vaccine also has begun
small safety studies.
Many questions remain as larger studies are being designed,
including the best dose and how soon protection may begin,
cautioned Dr. Daniel Bausch, a Tulane University Ebola specialist who
wasn't involved in the study. Plus, monkey research suggests a
booster shot will be needed for long-term protection.

http://m.news24.com/nigeria/Lifestyle/Ebola-vaccine-seems-safe-in-first-stage-testing-20141127-3

Thank God.