An Ebola vaccine has finally passed the first human trials and should begin being mass produced as soon as possible. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has begun producing the Ebola vaccine alongside GlaxoSmithKline and say mass production should begin in the next few months. The Ebola vaccine was developed after the institute finally received the funding necessary to begin human trials.
The new Ebola vaccine that has passed human trials has been in the labs for at least 10 years, but because of the lack of funding, human trials of the substance couldn’t be performed. Scientists had modified a cold virus in a chimpanzee in order to carry a protective substance against the Zaire strain of the virus. The Ebola vaccine they had tested on monkeys was very effective against the virus, but the effects tended to wear off after time. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, lead by Dr. Anthony Fauci will begin extensive trials of the Ebola vaccine starting next year.
The scale of the recent Ebola outbreak has cause panic among authorities, and that’s what led to the speedy funding of the institute’s Ebola vaccine. Once the team could begin testing the virus on humans, volunteers were injected with the substance and within a month, they started developing antibodies to fight the Ebola virus. As the scientists started increasing the Ebola vaccine dose, they noticed how test subjects were developing a larger number of antibodies in bigger concentrations, which ultimately led to an effective Ebola vaccine.
CD8 T cells are among the cells that are crucial for the human body to fight off the virus, and while animals have no issue producing it, it’s a different story when humans are involved. Nonetheless, Dr. Anthony Fauci found that the test subjects who had received a high dosage of the Ebola virus started producing the CD8 T cells on their own, fighting off the virus. The new Ebola vaccine is effective against the Zaire and Sudan Ebola strains, but scientists are working on creating specific vaccines for each strain of the virus. According to statistics, the outbreak of Ebola in African countries, especially in Sierra Leona, can only be stopped with an Ebola vaccine, because it has outspread expectations. Since field trials are to be started in January 2015, the hope is that the new Ebola vaccine will prove successful in stopping the outbreak.