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Ebola Vaccines Successfully Tested on Monkeys

Posted by timothy on from the bring-out-the-chimp dept.

An Anonymous Reader writes "Canadian and American researchers, in a joint venture between Canada's National Microbiology Lab and the U.S. military, have created two vaccines that prevent Monkeys from becoming ill with Ebola and Marburg. While a human vaccine may still be 5 years away, this is very promising news.

5 of 39 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Great. I guess. by vondo · · Score: 2, Informative
    That's exactly how it's useful. Widespread smallpox vaccination was stop *before* smallpox was eliminated. In the interim, any reported case of small pox resulted in vacinating people in the area and those who could have come into contact with the infected in a containment policy.

    Sure, people will still die in outbreaks, but they can be contained with many fewer people. No matter what the financial cost, *I* don't want a vaccination against Ebola unless I'm going somewhere where there is an outbreak. There are risks with vaccines too. (About 1 in a million died from the smallpox vaccine, I think).

    IANAP (pathologist)

  2. Re:More details from the Globe & Mail by ResidntGeek · · Score: 2, Informative

    if I had Ebola I think I'd be ready to sign up for early clinical trials!

    It's a vaccine. It prevents infection, doesn't cure it.

    --
    ResidntGeek
  3. Re:More details from the Globe & Mail by jacen_sunstrider · · Score: 2, Informative

    Vaccinations prevent, not cure. In fact, if you were afflicated by an ailment and injected with the vaccine, in many cases it would make the matter worse. However, it's pretty hard to make ebola worse.

  4. Re:Great. I guess. by ohithere · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, it depends on the type of vaccine...

    If the vaccine is based on a surface protein of the virus, it could serve to trigger and rally the immune system of an infected person. If the vaccine is merely based on inert particles, it may not help. Of course the BEST alternative for someone infected with ebola would be the blood serum of another survivor.

    An ebola vaccine would be of great help in containing outbreaks of the disease. When the first case of ebola pops up in whatever isolated town, the whole town could be vaccinated against the disease, thereby preventing the massive slaughter that the disease normally causes. Like you said, it also would be effective in preventing healthcare provider infection with the disease as well.

    The ebola vaccine would be VERY useful, especially if ebola were to ever migrate into a moderately large city. Forced immunization of all the people that would be infected by it in the city would forestall an outbreak of the disease and help to contain it.

  5. Not necessarily worse by jgoemat · · Score: 2, Informative

    Vaccines rally the immune system to fight the invader. If given after infection but before symptoms show up, it may be able to help your body fight it off. That's exactly what is done with rabies.