The urgent quest for Ebola vaccine

When President Yoweri Museveni went on air to emphatically caution Ugandans on the recent Ebola outbreak, it underlined the defencelessness, not only of the Ugandans, but of the regional and global citizen for lack of available drug or vaccine against the virus. In the meantime, the border crossing points of countries immediately bordering Uganda are providing surveillance posts to prevent spread of the virus in the region and beyond. All health workers in the region have been put on high alert and trans-border surveillance is in high gear over the Ebola outbreak.Uganda has occasionally been in the news over Ebola, of which the country has witnessed three major Ebola outbreaks in the last 12 years. The year 2000 has been noted as having been the “deadliest” when 425 people were infected, and more than half of them died. The latest outbreak has already claimed more than 16 lives.The thing about the Ebola is that it is one of the most virulent diseases in the world. It is spread by close personal contact, and kills between 50 to 90 per cent of those who become infected. The fact that the virus spreads very fast through person-to-person transmission, and that it holds the potential to ensure a high number of deaths has fuelled serious concerns that it could be used in bio-terrorism. These concerns have provided the impetus to urgently find an effective drug or vaccine against the virus, of which there have been several unsuccessful attempts until very recently.As of August 2010, a possible new drug to treat the Ebola virus was in the offing after it was proven to be effective on monkeys. According to BBC reports, scientists found that the new drug cured the virus in 60 per cent of rhesus monkeys. It proved 100 per cent effective in treating the closely-related Marburg virus in cynomolgus monkeys found in Asia. So promising was the drug that the US Food and Drug Administration gave permission for clinical trials involving a small group of human volunteers. Though it is only the beginning, one hopes that it yields some positive results. Developing a full vaccine can take several years with a further requirement for extensive trials and assessment.In yet another report that caught world attention around December 2011, scientists have developed a vaccine that protects mice against a deadly form of the Ebola virus. The vaccine protects 80 per cent of the mice injected with the deadly strain. The challenge now is to try the vaccine on a strain of Ebola that is closer to the one that infects humans.One of the breakthroughs is that the vaccine has long-term storage viability and can therefore be successfully stockpiled. Previously developed vaccines have disabled viral particles before injecting them intact into the body. Long-term storage tends to damage the virus, paralysing the vaccine’s effectiveness.The search for Ebola counter-measures have mainly been US-led, especially after 9/11. The quest continues. For now, no licensed vaccine or treatment against the Ebola virus is available. Knowing the virus and how to prevent against it remains the only way. In the meantime, more than 1,200 deaths from the virus have been recorded worldwide since it was discovered in 1976.Twitter: @gituram