Ebola vaccine test successful

Hyderabad: A preliminary vaccine for Ebola has been created by Ella Foundation of Bharat Biotech. The vaccine made from adenovirus and glycoprotein was tested on mice and the results were good.

Dr Krishna Ella of Ella Foundation said, “This preliminary vaccine needs to be further tested and has to undergo clinical trials. As the Foundation does not have the required expertise, we want the Centre or scientific institutions to take it up. Ebola is a deadly disease which spreads through contact. It has not yet hit the Indian shores.

The US and European countries had been trying to develop a vaccine. But there has been no breakthroughs so far. Whether this preliminary vaccine will be successful in tests is a big question. Although regarded as a good model, its future depends on how it works on laboratory animals like monkeys. 

Ghana to test Ebola vaccine in Kintampo

Ghana is scheduled to begin a trial of an Ebola vaccine by the end of this month.

The Ebola vaccine trials will be carried out in Hohoe and Kintampo.

According to the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Professor Fred Binka, the trials will inform scientists on effective results regarding the Ebola vaccine.

This forms part of preparations towards any case detection in Ghana, he told Radio Ghana. The trial has the full backing of the World Health Organisation.

Meanwhile, Liberia, which is one of the West African countries ravaged by the disease has began a trial of a potential drug to treat Ebola.

The antiviral - brincidofovir - is being tested on Ebola patients on a voluntary basis. People who do not consent to it receive standard care.

Oxford University scientists leading the research say initial results are expected in the next few months. A study involving a similar drug - favipiravir - began in Guinea in December.