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Ebola Vaccine Human Trials Begin
securitas writes "The Washington Post reports on the first human to be injected with '100 trillion strands of synthetic' Ebola DNA. The DNA in the vaccine has been bioengineered by Vical to remove 'the part that triggers illness and the part that might allow the DNA to recombine with the DNA of some other virus.' The New York Times, AP via ABC and BBC all have stories about the new vaccine as the WHO reports 11 dead in a new Ebola outbreak in Congo this week. If you're interested in participating in the Ebola clinical trials, the NIH needs 27 volunteers. The study only has two. Best quote comes from the NIH vaccine center's nursing director: 'People freak out about Ebola.' Slashdot previously discussed an Ebola/HIV gene therapy."
eh, maybe when I know it works, but seeing as it's still in the experimental stage, I think I'll pass on that for now... the article describes it best... it kinda freaks me out to know I'm voulentarily getting this lethal virus...
Only one person, if I recall properly, from outside the Institute volunteered for this test; a landscaper.
Of course, the gullible, sheeplike townspeople immediately asked him if he was going to bring "that durned ee-bow-luh" to their neighborhood. Sigh.
Aside from any real danger that might be posed by this, I think Hollywood isn't doing the scientific community any favors (this season's 24, Outbreak, etc...).
:)
That said, I'd volunteer only if there were about 7 figures in hazard pay included.
Deadly yes, but are the chances of contracting it anywhere near the chance of being killed by the vaccine? When the mortality rate from the prevention is greater than for the actual disease NOT taking the vaccine is the rational decision. This is why they stopped giving smallpox vaccine to children in the 1970's - more children were becoming ill and dying from the vaccine than from smallpox.
has been bioengineered by Vical to remove 'the part that triggers illness and the part that might allow the DNA to recombine with the DNA of some other virus.
Daryl McBride from SCO sais that this virus contains code property of SCO corporation.
how long until
Heck, the description at the beginning of The Hot Zone is enough to keep me well clear of any Ebola vaccine trials, let alone the continent of Africa itself (not that I have any reason to go there in the first place).
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
Wouldn't a better idea be to seek volunteers in Congo - in high risk areas? Possibly near the area of the outbreak (/as soon as the next one starts so as to also try and prevent the spread of infection). Otherwise are they planning to infect the volunteers with Ebola... and don't expect anything to go wrong?
On the unethical side - if anything goes wrong it's not like the settlement in Congo will be remotely what it's in the west. People are probably less "freaked out"/don't understand the dangers, so volunteers would be easier to find. -- not that I support these reasons,
Well, given that ...
am I the only one that isn't surprised that people "freak out" about it?Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
If you're interested in participating in the Ebola clinical trials, the NIH needs 27 volunteers.
And thus "slashdotting" takes on a whole new meaning...
Business \Busi"ness\, n.;
A scam in which all people involved perceive as beneficial...
You are not funny and your remarks about SCO are slanderous. SCO owns linux, PERIOD. Get over it you babies and pay your licensing fees.
This is a Phase I clinical trial. There are typically 3 phases to each clinical trial, with Phase III being "official" statistical study. Phase III is "gold standard" FDA phase, where you prove statistically that your treatment works.
What is a Phase I trial? It is typically used to determine a maximum tolerable dose (MTD). And how is that done? Something called "dose escalation" is used. That means you start off with a very low dose typically given to 3 patients, and if no toxicities (bad things) happen, you raise the dose. You keep doing this until you observe two toxicities in two consecutive groups (typically). Many times the volunteers in Phase I trials are terminally ill and willing to try anything.
If you are not terminally ill, perhaps waiting for the Phase III trial to join is the best bet, when they have already figured out the "maximum tolerable dose".
Nah, it's more like Ebola turns them to jelly/jello.
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
Do they check to see if the people testing a vaccine have taken part in any other vaccine tests? I just had a nasty image of somebody suicidal intentionally trying all of the risky new vaccines in hopes of contracting a lethal virus...
--- Bwah?
Dude, I so knew that Biology degree would pay off.
Ebola, as viruses go, is incredibly hard to contract. It lacks a carrier state, which means that contraction depends entirely on contact with infected secretions. Unless you're exchanging spit, bodily fluids, or blood, you're safe. As for the vaccine, stating that the "part that causes the virus to replicate" is removed if superfluous. A vaccine by its very nature is a pathogen modified to restrict replication, and in the case of Ebola, that means the ability to attch itself to your RNA, and manifest itself. The only danger from the vaccine would be isolated to the vaccine itself, NOT Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever.
We've found a use for SCO at last!!!!!!!!!!
Read reviews of shopping cart software
yeah, great, so that if humanity *does* get wiped out by ebola tomorrow, he'll be responsible for repopulating the species... :P
but I have a medical condition that excludes me ;-(
In the article it specifically notes "Volunteers will not be exposed to Ebola virus." No live virus was involved in the manufacturing process either.
Because of the ethical problems involved in any human clinical trial with real live virus, they'll probably use the "two-animal" rule in that if it protects at least two animal species from the virus, it's considered valid. Once this study proves safety, then it'll be licensed. The real trial would begin if they ever use this in the next Ebola outbreak.
I nominate Darl McBride!
If someone here voulenteers and provides proof I'll PayPal them $20.
So who else is with me? Let's see how much we can get here!
From the article:
The only real proof of whether or not this is effective or not will be when it's distributed to those running a daily risk of infection in the Congo. I understand that before that stage it must be proven safe, but imagine if it fails. That would be a big setback for what sounds like a innovative and creative technique (ie - man made DNA mimicing a pathogen).
Considering the potential and the amount of time and money invested, I'm hoping this meets with success. The benefit when applied to other rampant diseases is enormous.
They included some really spiffy other gene therapy upgrades. Like X-Ray vision...
Huh, What's that you say?
What do you mean you can't add X-ray vision to the genetic code!?!
They did it in X-Men!!
--"Sorry for the inconvience." Gods Last Words to his Creation
DNA, So Long and Thanks for all the Fish
My uncle is a quiet and reserved guy. He works with highly infectious agents as his job - space suits and special rooms - that whole deal.
For Christmas back in the day he gave me The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. I read it that weekend and then asked him about ebola - my uncle is one of the team that they send to the part of the world that is having some new outbreak - ebola is one of his specialties.
He was in the Peace Corps in Zaire back when then first discovered ebola, and even met his wife that way when they were both in the same tent recovering from malaria.
He said ebola was really nothing to worry about since it killed its host so fast. He said that it was indeed a bad thing if you ever got it, and it does need to be contained, but it dies very quickly outside of its host, and it kills its host too quickly.
He also noted that AIDS isn't particularly impressive either. It dies quickly outside of the person as well.
He isn't discounting the viruses by any means - just in terms of the scary stuff that he works with, he wasn't as scared by those and they are on different containment levels than other things.
He mentioned smallpox as being horrible.
I am now finishing up Richard Preston's The Demon in the Freezer and I must say that it is very interesting (his books all seem to be written in a way that you can finish them in an unnerving weekend).
Smallpox in itself is scary stuff, and then the bioengineered completely resistant smallpox is really freaky.
Anthrax is nothing compared to this stuff - anthrax can kill its host, but it is not contagious from that sick host - if someone with anthrax coughs in the same room as you, you don't then get anthrax. Whereas one person with smallpox can infect an extremely large area around them very quickly - and they don't necessarily show any signs of having it but are capable of spreading it in the first few days of being infected.
Personally, I would much rather die of a drug overdose while having sex with supermodels than have to die of any of these viruses.
Hopefully the chances of either being my final exit are equally slim.
There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
Those of us old enough exposed ourselves to the smallpox virus. The fact that most /.ers have NOT had a smallpox vaccine is a testament to the effectiveness of this method of vaccination.
Polio vaccine is the same deal.
"Ebola testing? Nonono...I thought you said Ricola testing!"
Sig it.
Some of my best appz were cracked by the Ebola Virus Crew ;-)
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Given all the hype about bio terrorism and the wrenching effects of this hemorrhagic fever, the public tends to think of Ebola as a foremost danger.
Meanwhile, AIDS, which was a big scare two decades ago, has not become an widespread epidemic in developed nations despite having been around a couple of decades, takes a long time for mortality when properly treated with the latest expensive drugs, and "seems to be something that only gays and drug users get". In the public mind, it's not considered much of a danger.
But AIDS is devastating Africa these days.
6-10 Kenyan soldiers die weekly; 80% infected
AIDS orphans outcast
"Provided by the management for your protection."
Source
So, if you have Ebola, you can literally "vomit your guts out".
From a global point of view it does not make sense to invest too much into research on Ebola as it only causes problems for a view people (who are extremly poor creatures that need help of course, don't get me wrong!).
Putting the money into Malaria related projects would benefit more humans, as Malaria is one of the biggest killers in Africa, esp. amoungst children. HIV would be next on this list as whole generations are at risk and actually dying because of HIV.
But surely it is interesting to do research on Ebola and with the mediy hype about it you can even become famous...
Back during the big anthrax scare, they were doing vaccine trials at the medical school at Vanderbilt University. My sisters had a few friends who were lured by the mad cash (about $200 or $500) and became guinea pigs...apparently some of them got sick, and from what I understand the vaccine had a certain risk of causing a heart condition.
So don't volunteer for these studies for the cash; only do it if you are prepared to become a medical sacrifice for the good of the world. Or something like that.
...
Do not take the parent post for legitimate advice. The poster copied somebody else's Score 4 post from 2001 and passed it off as his own. What type of sick person intentionally spreads disinformation about HIV for the purpose of gaining karma (and if you're unsure if that's what he's doing, read his journal)? This is getting downright dangerous. Stop your trolling Fux, these topics are serious and don't deserve to be made light of.
Personally, I would much rather die of a drug overdose while having sex with supermodels than have to die of any of these viruses.
Supermodels, plural? I wish I half your imagination -- I figured sex with one supermodel was good enough to die for!
Kidding aside, thanks for the interesting comments about your uncle's work.
-kgj
-kgj
The very last line of the article, hanging out all by itself:
Scientists might test the vaccine in an outbreak of Ebola under emergency conditions.
There was a very intruiging article in the New Yorker awhile back about just this subject: testing HIV/AIDS vaccines and other pharmaceuticals on Africans. Unfortunately it's not available online, and I wouldn't want to go into any more detail and risk being -1 Offtopic. But here's a short summary of the article.
'People freak out about Ebola.'
I don't know about the rest of the readers, but when my skin starts to sweat blood, I tend to go Freaking crazy, not just freak out.
TruePunk | Games
and do TRY not to melt into a puddle. It would terrible PR.
The good and new comes from no quarter where it is looked for, and is always something different from what is expected.
I liked Roger Daltry better when he was a singer. This actor and reporter stuff he's doing just isn't as good.
But AIDS is devastating Africa these days.
..."
..."
Very true -- Africa is currently the living hell of continents. Meanwhile, the disease is threatening to do the same around the world, e.g.:
South America: "Latin America has yet to experience a full-blown AIDS epidemic, but the disease is spreading from high-risk individuals to the general population
Asia: "Asia is at risk of facing the world's worst AIDS epidemic if urgent preventative measures are not taken
-kgj
-kgj
After reading the NIH page, I don't see any type of compensation mentioned.
I mean,you're going to have a real deadly virus put into you, least they can do is get you some Wendy's drive thru or something
Ebola scares us in the west because we don't have a cure, and death is nearly certain. We, the rich people in the west, feel threaten and therefore spend the money on looking for a vaccine for it, but consider this:
Very few (less than a 100) die of ebola each year. The biggest killer in the world is tuberculosis. Why don't we look for a vaccine against it ? Oh yeah that's right if somebocy gets tuberculosis in the west, we cure them with antibiotics - the people who die because of tuberculosis are in the poor countries... who cares.
Fuck you.
..shouldn't we be focussing our efforts on things that actually kill large amounts of people in the real world?
Like, oh I don't know, Malaria?
For the past 5 years of my life, Ebola has been one of the coolest things in existence. It's a virus with a 90%+ fatality rate, no cure, etc, liquified within a week, etc. Imagine weaponizing that baby, making it airborne... take that, popular culture!
Anyways, why must science ruin nature's best things? We've killed off pretty much every large predator and made most kick-ass diseases extinct. What's the fun of that?
To make matters worse, we're probably pissing off God (or whatever runs this universe as root). We've defeated his ways of killing people! No more lightning, plague, floods, wars where that many innocent people are killed, and "fire and brimstone", aka meteorites, can't be THAT far off...
"73% of quotes on the Internet are made up" -Ben Franklin
Shot them an email, said i'm from Canada, wasn't sure if that affected my eligibility. Hell, I can use an extra 10 grand or whatever they will pay me for this. not sure yet whether I have to give up work for a year, in which case i'd require a lot more money, and maybe they can work with my employer to ensure I have a job when I get back... who knows. They replied, and asked that i give their office a call, so i think i'll do that after work. I could use a nice change of scenery for a while at the very least. Not too concerned that they'd be subjecting me to anything LETHAL. i'm sure it's quite harmless, so i'll try to capitilize on the public's fear or something...
In the UK, NERC only funds PhD students for 3 years. One of our students just participated in a malaria vaccine trial as this would give him an extra 3 months of funding.
You might be right with your facts, but your conclusion is wrong.
This research is not founded by the big pharma companies but by the National Institute of Health. I bet they have a reseachprogram into TB too, it is just not very newsworthy.
I think you would not want to meet all the 'who`s' in your "who cares", you'd be shaking your hand off.
This space is intentionally staring blankly at you
Now that he's back, I nominate michael to be the first one to test the Ebola vaccine. Do I hear a second?
We tried reaching him for comment, but his face was in the middle of falling off, and he was having difficulty breathing.
"Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket?"
besides the horrible horrible pathology of the disease, ebola isn't really a "biblical plague" virus - it tends to self-contain due to the clear symptomatology leading to rapid isolation and the relative difficulty of transmission. Now, if it became airborne and contagious like rhinoviruses, then we have a serious problem; it hasn't, perhaps we'd be better off spending the time and effort to find a vaccine for that most devilish of virii, HIV?
disclaimer: i am not a virologist/geneticist familiar with the details of ebola's function, so i can't say that figuring a vaccine for ebola isn't a conceptual breakthrough that will allow a whole new class of vaccines...but if it isn't, this just seems like mental masturbation, a cure for a nonexistent problem.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. - Aldous Huxley
.....wait for something decent to come along, don't immediately blow your load over the first thing you see.
/. - aren't you?
You are aware that this is
"Danke daß Du mich gemolken hast" said the German cow.
> I participate in these type of studies regularly, which is why I am able to eat.
=:-O
Dude, two words: Paper route.
Let me guess... one of the volunteers names was Homer Simpson?
"Sir we have to warn you this will probably cause slight brain damage and obesity"
WHO reports 11 dead in a new Ebola outbreak in Congo
should be...
The Who reports 11 dead in Cincinnati
Unless you're exchanging spit, bodily fluids, or blood, you're safe.
How are spit and blood not "bodily fluids"?
-- Repeat with me: "There is no right to profits".
I'm a healthy white male, and have lost nobody I know to the Ebola virus, but I think any disease this deadly should have a cure as soon as possible.
:-)
I'm young enough to still pretend I'm invincible, and I don't have a fear of needles.
"I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.
At the risk of slashdotting a really good book, I humbly offer an absolutely excellent read on the Soviet development of pathgenic weapons: Biohazard, by Ken Alibek (the former first deputy chief of Biopreparat, the Soviet state pharmaceutical agency that developed and manufactured biological weaponry).
What is a Virus? How does it work?
A virus is a protein sheath (called a capsid) covering genetic information. The protein sheath varies in size and shape, the most famous being the T4 Bacteriophage (picture on the bar on the left). Simply put, the genetic information can be in the form of RNA or DNA. The virus latches onto a host cell and injects its genetic material through the plasma membrane.
Viruses all have different strategies at this point, depending on their structure and target cells.
The most insidious, the retroviruses (of HIV fame), incorporate their genome into the host cell's. When the host cell copies its own DNA, in the process of normal cell division, it copies the code for the virus. Each daughter cell resulting from this mitotic division carries the virus latent in its own DNA. They now, in their normal life cycle, become factories for the retrovirus, pumping out more and more protein encased genetic sequences. Propagation is very thorough.
A simpler virus might only borrow the mechanisms of the cell to replicate itself. The virus would use DNA polymerases and associated enzymes to copy the genome for the viral offspring and RNA polymerase to transcribe mRNA molecules to translate to proteins for the viral capsid. The baby virii are then assembled (the DNA wrapped in the protective capsid) and they exit the cell. Sometimes this results in the death of the cell, other times it does not. The virus doesn't much care whether the cell survives once it has been copied.
The body, however, doesn't take kindly to its cells being hijacked. It doesn't matter if the viral infection doesn't result in the death of any cells. An infection is inefficient; a virus uses a lot of the cell's energy, energy that could be better spent in normal functions. Here's where the immune system comes in.
How does my immune system protect me from Ebola ?
Proteins are the real workhorses in cellular biology. As far as molecules go they're about as diverse as it gets; almost everything a cell does it does with proteins. A protein is coded for by a gene, a sequence of base pairs in the genome. When we make a protein we tend to make more than one at a time (one type of protein, multiple copies). One or more copies in the set get paired with another protein. This other protein, called MHC, has the sole purpose of escorting its pair to the surface of the cell and holding it there. The surface of the cell has hundreds of proteins of various types sticking out. When a virus instructs a cell to make its proteins the cell follows normal procedure and sends some of them to the surface.
The immune system is incredibly complicated. A subset of it is the T cells, which are themselves divided into two groups, Helper T Cells and Cytotoxic T Cells. Cytotoxic T cells are easier to describe; they're often called assassin cells or natural killer cells. Their purpose is to kill anything foreign that they find in the body. The Helper T Cells each have proteins on their surface (called antibodies) that recognize one target (called an antigen). They wander around, checking out all of the other cells in the body, looking for a match. If a Helper T Cell was looking for EVP-1(Evil Virus Protein 1) it would ignore every cell that didn't display EVP-1 on its surface.
If they find a match they know that the cell is infected with Evil Virus, and they signal for the Cytotoxic cells to come do their job. They also reproduce. So imagine you have a million Helper T Cells with random antibodies on their surface. You're betting on the one cell that is looking for EVP-1 into a cell that happens to be infected with a Ev
while (!sleep){
sheep++;
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Ebola Vaccine Tester
Jesus H. Christ. Count me out. If I was sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty, I might consider entering a trial for the ebola vaccine. Call me chicken. or greedy. Maybe for a few million dollars I would risk ebola.
TallGreen CMS hosting
If you have heard the term "Hemorragic Fever" and know exactly what it means, you would steer clear from Ebola forever and feel dread at bare mention of its name, anyone who has read "the hot zone" (I commited that serious mistake) would prefer to have either arm amputated than getting infected with the disease. Contrary to popular belief the media hasnt blown the deal out of proportion with "outbreak" or similars (unless you count "cabin fever") it has much more censured it instead, Ebola is a very, very bad bug, fortunately for us is not that contagious so it has not spread outside of Africa.
.
I agree this study is necesary, but it would be terribly irresponsable (even murderous) not lo let know this people what they might be getting into. Is good to remember though, there are known cases of people who have survived the disease (even without hemorragic fever) so is not deadly in 100% of the cases
However all things considered participating should be better payed (including a hefty life insurance for their families if any) and at least include some level of public acknowledgement for it. (whoever gets into this after acknowledging is danger is a real hero in my book)
p.s.
Hemorragic fever: What ebola does (as I remember from the "hot zone") in its advanced state is to cause flesh to lose its consistency, reaching a point in which veins can no longer contain liquid causing bleeding... sorry but Im feeling sick just typing this: You do the math.
To put it short: Monkeys who have died of Ebola Zaire must have an authopsy as soon as they die, because it is impossible to practice one in the gelatinous mess it becomes a few days later.
I wish I was kidding.
Some reasons:
1. It's really, really deadly. Currently, it's not so contagious, but that sort of thing has been known to change for other viruses.
2. It's easier to vaccinate against than HIV. HIV is a real
moving target - it mutates a lot. It also mounts an attack against the immune system itself, which makes it hard to defend against.
3. There is already a version of Ebola that is (probably) transmitted through the air - "Ebola Reston". For some reason, it doesn't affect humans, but it's incredibly deadly to monkeys.
4. There aren't any effective treatments for infected individuals. Once you've caught the disease, you're either going to die or not, and nothing anybody does will help you at all.
5. The process of dying from Ebola is incredibly awful to experience, and terrifying to watch, by all accounts.
As a public-health problem, Ebola currently ranks pretty low. But the possibility of a contagious Ebola scares the hell out of a lot of people. If such a virus ever appears in a populous area, it'll be way too late to start developing a vaccine.
-Mark
in the good ol' medical tradition, the developers of the vaccine should've been the first to take it.
Where are all the NBA players dead from AIDS?
Especially they are promiscuous and it affects
African Americans more than other groups.
How come there is no one else dead, dying?
To be really technical, you can treat viruses with no "cures" by giving serum from somebody who has recovered, because presumably it has some really good antibodies in it. I believe they do this at the CDC and Ft. Detrick whenever anyone who studies Ebola accidentally sticks themselves with a dirty needle. I feel sorry for the guys who recovered and thus suddenly had the duty towards mankind to donate plasma frequently for the rest of their lives.
"I never really used Joe either but a stupid editor is a stupid editor." -D. Reed.
I haven't heard of any large-scale studies of the effectiveness of that treatment. Granted, I'm not a doctor, but a quick web search turned up a couple articles at NIH and WHO along the lines of "it's been tried a couple of times, but no one knows if it helps". Do you have references for a more detailed treatment?
In any case, a vaccine or an effective replication inhibiter drug would be a lot more useful than serum if a large-scale infection ever breaks out.
-Mark
Gupta et al, J. Virology 2001 May; 75(10) 4649-54 is an article testing the same concept on mice, more wide-spread, and finding out that it works pretty well.
"I never really used Joe either but a stupid editor is a stupid editor." -D. Reed.
Tax and spend, tax and spend...
These people will tax anything that they can, so that they can have more for their pet pork barrel projects. This is the most ridiculous attempt yet to tax the Internet.
Quit playing Monopoly with Bill.
Linux - of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Only if we get to shoot you first. And then we'll think about the other part.
Isn't that what makes them unstable, mutating, etc... Just nitpicking I know
Study polio, a good old-fashioned DNA virus. Not one of these godfersaken, upstart RNA viruses.
bullshit.
Most of the deaths that are attributed to HIV in Africa have no corresponding proof that they died as a result of being infected by the virus. They aren't being tested. It's just an easy way for those nations to extort a lot of time and money from the West. IMHO, if they can't keep their dicks out of someone's ass or in just 1 woman's cunt, then they should die. I see no reason why the resources should be squandered so they should live. The same enviromental whackos that are opposed to spraying to kill the mosquitos that spread malaria are of the same opinion that the world is over populated. Fine. Let a billion or so on Africa die off and that will be a fine start.
well, for the odd cases where someone got aids because of a blood transfusion, it pretty much is a disease that fags and druggies get. It's a behavioral based disease. If it really decimates Africa, good for them.
why? it would certainly solve the H1-B visa and techie employment problems now wouldn't it?
I miss the days when people saw a problem and just fixed it. Now we have to be so damn PC about it and make sure we don't offend or slight any group. The West has become the land of the big fat wuss.
As Vincent Price once said.
/.ing
If the past gives any idea of the future....
Happy
Hydrophobia (Rabies) has a 100% fatality rate in unvacinated humans.
hahaahahahaaaaaaaaaa
Serum treatment is done for people suspected of getting a rabies infection. THe people infected, or suspected of getting infected, by rabies first get a shot of this temporary shit and then the actual vaccine. While the body produces the antibodies on its own from the vaccine, the serum shit can mitigate the effects of the virus itself. By the time the serum shit is depleted, the vaccine has stimulated the body enough to handle the mess on its own.
In a similar fashion, if you get tetanus, or are suspected thereof, you get a shot of antitoxin followed by the tetanus vaccination. That way you don't go into hideous fucking convulsions while the body produces its own defenses against the bacteria.
Tetanus is another fascinating thing. So little of the toxin is released during an actual infection that the body doesn't even notice it. You can get it over and over and over. The only way to stop it is a vaccination.
Good shit, yes?