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RResearchers in Uganda have launched the largest ever trial of the Ebola vaccine trial, which is expected to be deployed in neighboring Congo, where a deadly epidemic has killed more than 1,800 people.
The Janssen Pharmaceuticals vaccine trial involves up to 800 people in the Mbarara district, in the west of the country, and is supported by Doctors Without Borders and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. .
Pontiano Kaleebu, a Ugandan researcher who runs the trial, said Friday that he regretted that the Janssen vaccine has not yet been rolled out in Congo. The health minister who resigned last month pleaded against his deployment, saying that a second vaccine could create confusion on the ground.
In Congo, already more than 180,000 people involved in this outbreak have received an experimental but effective Merck vaccine, but health experts are worried about the availability of doses as the virus is now spreading in a major city, Goma, the along the Rwandan border. The woman and the one year old daughter of the man who died of Ebola this week in Goma now have the disease.
The wife and child were doing well in the treatment, told reporters Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the new coordinator of the Ebola response in Congo.
But he warned that about half of the cases of this epidemic are not detected and that at this rate "this epidemic could last two or three years". The current goal is to strengthen surveillance and reduce the detection rate to 80%, he said.
Health experts were appalled by the fact that the promises of the Merck vaccine in this epidemic were largely overshadowed by the severe difficulties in containing the virus, including rebel attacks and community resistance in a region of Congo. who had never been affected by the Ebola virus.
The Janssen vaccine has already been tested on about 6,000 people, mostly Africans, Kaleebu said. "We are delighted with this [trial …] because it's one of the most promising vaccines, "he said. "This is one of those vaccines that has been shown to be very promising in animal studies, but also in other trials."
Ugandan researchers said the new trial is expected to last two years and will determine the duration of protection against Ebola. Juliet Mwanga, co-investigator of the trial, stressed the need "to study many vaccines" in the light of the Congo epidemic.
Uganda has had several outbreaks of Ebola in the past. While the virus is currently free of the virus, three people died in June after entering the Kasese district via an unguarded path. Their family members were brought back to Congo for treatment.
The Ebola virus can spread quickly and be fatal in 90% of cases. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aches and sometimes internal and external bleeding. The virus is most often transmitted through close contact with the body fluids of people with symptoms and with contaminated objects such as sheets. Health care workers are often at risk. RODNEY MUHUMUZA, KAMPALA, AP
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