Ebola Vaccine Shows Promise

Ebola vaccine appeared at least partially effective in phase I trial

(RxWiki News) In an early, phase I trial, researchers think they have found an Ebola vaccine combination that could offer at least partial protection.

And that's potentially a big deal because of the world's most recent Ebola outbreak. It happened in West Africa, and it was the deadliest Ebola outbreak on record, killing more than 11,000 people.

That outbreak sparked a flurry of research on vaccines and medications, including the four vaccines used in this recent study, which was published in JAMA.

The University of Oxford researchers behind this study tested various combinations of four vaccines thought to potentially provide protection from Ebola, an often-deadly viral disease marked by high fever, nausea, vomiting and unexplained bleeding.

One particular combination — an initial dose of a vaccine called Ad26.ZEBOV with a later booster dose of another called MVA-BN-Filo — appeared to create an immune response among the 87 participants studied. That means the vaccine combo could provide at least partial protection against Ebola.

The authors of this study said they were further evaluating the vaccine in phase I, II and III trials.

Information about funding sources and conflicts of interest was not available at the time of publication.

Review Date: 
April 20, 2016