New Ebola vaccine enters real-world DRC test phase
Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo started using a new vaccine to control the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, global health NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Thursday.
Up to 50,000 doses of the Ad26.ZEBOV/MVA-BN-Filo vaccine will be administered in two health districts in the city of Goma, according to MSF, which is assisting the African nation’s Health Ministry in implementing the rollout.
Read more: Ebola: What is the best vaccination strategy?
The primary objective of the rollout is to gain data on the effectiveness of the experimental vaccine in a real-world setting, the organization said.
The new vaccine has passed clinical trials, but has never been tested in a real-world setting.
Laboratory studies show that the drug generates an increased immune response against Ebola, but the only way to confirm its effectiveness outside of the lab is to introduce the vaccine during an epidemic, according to MSF.
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Ebola: Fight against the deadly virus
Protective clothing
Proper protective clothing for doctors and nurses is critical. All exposed skin must be covered with a material that cannot be penetrated by the virus. But the suit alone isn’t enough: Proper procedure is also important.
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Ebola: Fight against the deadly virus
Suiting up
Health care workers must practice correctly putting on a protective suit, as seen here at the special isolation unit in Dusseldorf. New suits are used every time, so there is no risk of infection when getting dressed. Unprotected workers are therefore able to help.
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Ebola: Fight against the deadly virus
Completely separate
The patient rooms in the Dusseldorf isolation unit are completely shielded from the outside world. Air is filtered, and wastewater must go through a separate treatment process. The protective suits, used at all times in the ward, are kept at positive pressure. These measures go further than is necessary: While Ebola can be transmitted by contaminated objects, the virus is not airborne.
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Ebola: Fight against the deadly virus
Disinfectant shower
After the patient is treated, the entire suit is sprayed from the outside with a disinfectant to kill off any potential viruses. Only after this shower can the suit be removed – cautiously.
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Ebola: Fight against the deadly virus
Outside help
When removing the protective suit, health care workers must exercise extreme caution. Using permanently installed protective gloves, outside assistance can be provided without coming into direct contact with the suit. After use, the suit is immediately disposed of and burned.
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Ebola: Fight against the deadly virus
Infected nurses
Despite the high safety standards, a total of three nurses in Spain and the United States have contracted the disease. The circumstances surrounding the infection have not yet been clarified. The nurses’ homes (as seen here in Texas) were sealed off and disinfected after the discovery of the transmission.
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Ebola: Fight against the deadly virus
Protection in Africa
Doctors and nurses in West Africa have now also been outfitted with protective suits. However, these do not always meet the standards deemed necessary for effective protection. Sometimes, small areas of skin are left unprotected, or the material used in the suit is permeable. In addition, putting the suit on and removing it can be risky.
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Ebola: Fight against the deadly virus
Isolating the dead
Extreme caution is also necessary at the funerals of people who have died of Ebola. A West African tradition, which sees the family of the deceased wash the body has led to many new infections. For mourning friends and family, these strict isolation measures are often hard to understand.
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Ebola: Fight against the deadly virus
Tent as isolation units
In a region where medical care is extremely underdeveloped, such an outbreak provides a daunting challenge. Infected people, like here in Liberia, are cared for in hastily constructed tents. But even a country like Germany would probably be overwhelmed by such an epidemic. At the moment, the country only has around 50 beds set up in isolation units.
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Ebola: Fight against the deadly virus
Incineration instead of sunlight
In some of the affected West African regions, contaminated suits are hung out in the sun in an attempt to disinfect them for further use. But it’s much safer to burn the clothing immediately after use, as seen here in Guinea. However, supply shortages and the high prices of suits make such advice difficult to follow. Protective clothing can cost between €30 and €200 ($40-$250).
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Ebola: Fight against the deadly virus
Airport controls
Air travelers represent the biggest threat when it comes to transmission of the virus over long distances. For this reason, travelers’ temperatures are now being monitored at some airports. However, this method does not provide absolute security: Ebola’s incubation period is up to 21 days.
Second-deadliest Ebola epidemic
The vaccine, produced by Johnson Johnson, requires two injections eight weeks apart. It will be rolled out alongside another manufactured by Merck, which only requires a single shot.
The Merck vaccine has been administered to over 250,000 people since the start of the outbreak in August 2018.
For over a year, the country has been struggling to contain an outbreak of the deadly virus, considered the second-deadliest Ebola epidemic in the world. Over 3,200 people have been infected with the virus and more than 2,000 people died from the illness.
But the number of reported new infections has been falling steadily since June
A larger Ebola outbreak across much of West Africa, running from 2013 to 2016, claimed over 11,000 lives — also sparking redoubled efforts to fast-track research on vaccines.
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sri/msh (Reuters, dpa, AP, AFP)
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/new-ebola-vaccine-enters-real-world-drc-test-phase/a-51254331?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf