An experimental vaccine tested on thousands of people in Guinea exposed to Ebola seems to work and might help shut down the ongoing epidemic in West Africa, according to interim results from a study published Friday.
There is currently no licensed treatment or vaccine for Ebola, which has so far killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa since the world’s biggest outbreak began in the forest region of Guinea last year.
“If proven effective, this is going to be a game-changer,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, which sponsored the study. “It will change the management of the current outbreak and future outbreaks.”
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Doctor Francis Kateh, right, from Redemption Hospital volunteering to receive a trial vaccine against Ebola at Redemption Hospital on the outskirts of Monrovia. ZOOM DOSSO / AFP – Getty Images file
The worst outbreak of Ebola virus in history — happening now in West Africa — has claimed more than 700 lives, according to the latest count from the World Health Organization. The deaths occurred in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria.
“This outbreak is moving faster than our efforts to control it,” Margaret Chan, chief of the World Health Organization, said at a meeting, as reported by Reuters.
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