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The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) today reported six more cases in Beni, the current epicenter of the epidemic, and the Vaccine Advisory Group of the World Health Organization. Health (WHO) said there was still not enough evidence to recommend vaccination against Ebola. pregnant women.
Officials investigate 47 suspected cases
The 6 new diseases in Beni, which are part of a steady stream of cases from the region, bring the total to 257 cases, including 222 confirmed infections and 35 probable infections.
Two other deaths have been reported, one in Beni and the other in Butembo, the city that continues to report cases and deaths. To date, 164 people have died at the last outbreak in the DRC, which affects the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri in the north-east of the country.
Another 47 suspected cases of Ebola are under investigation.
The number of people affected by the ring vaccination campaign continues to increase: 22,811 people were vaccinated, half of them in Beni.
In another response, the DRC Ministry of Health said the capacity of the Ebola treatment center in Mangina, the hot spot of the previous epidemic, had been reduced by 16 beds, while that of Beni has has been increased to 60 beds to allow optimal quality. of care given the high number of suspected and confirmed cases in this health zone.
Inadequate vaccine data for pregnant women
The Ebola vaccine was one of the topics discussed this week by the WHO Advisory Group of Strategic Expert on Immunization (SAGE) at its meeting in Geneva.
The group's president, Alejandro Cravioto, a medical doctor from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said during a media retransmission today that the group had reviewed data on the use Ebola vaccine in pregnant women. The VSV-EBOV vaccine contains a live virus, the use of which is not generally recommended for pregnant women. He added that health officials were following a small number of women who did not know that they were pregnant after receiving the VSV-EBOV vaccine and some of whom had been inadvertently vaccinated.
Joachim Hombach, PhD, MPH, executive secretary of SAGE and senior adviser to the European Vaccine Initiative, said the risk-benefit analysis suggests that the risk of contracting the Ebola virus is very low for unvaccinated people, including including pregnant women, in settings where ring vaccination is under. way.
In the coming months, health officials hope to have more information through detailed follow-up of vaccinated pregnant women, added officials, adding that there was not enough evidence to that SAGE can draw a final conclusion. They added that local ethics committees could also take up the issue, depending on the situation on the ground.
Counselors plan role for second vaccine
At this week's meeting, SAGE members also heard about several other Ebola vaccines under development.
Cravioto reported that the only other vaccine currently used by the group is the booster treatment regimen that combines a starter dose of Ad26.ZEBOV with Adenovirus vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson and a booster dose of MVA-BN. – Bavarian Nordic Filo. He said the SAGE advisers had heard a presentation on the results of Phase 2 of the vaccine.
In recent years, experts have said they see roles for different formulations of Ebola vaccines. For example, VSV-EBOV has been useful in epidemic situations because it provides rapid protection, but researchers are studying vaccines that can sustainably protect preventive vaccination campaigns, including protecting health personnel epidemic.
The Johnson & Johnson regimen vaccines are genetically modified so that they can not be replicated, which could offer an option that health officials would be more comfortable recommending to pregnant women.
Cravioto said that it was incumbent on the company to decide next steps of the clinical trial, but the group suggested to include pregnant women.
See also:
October 26 update of the DRC
26 october WHO SAGE tele-briefing audio file
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