Is This the End to the Deadly Ebola Outbreak?

There were many major events in 2015 which were science related, but one that really stood out was the new vaccine against Ebola, which was proven to be 100% successful. According to The World Health Organization, the fatal illness is passed on from wildlife to humans and spreads in human population with human-to-human transmission. In the most recent outbreak, the virus did not only spread through the villages of Central Africa but also to other areas around the world.

In December of 2013, the Ebola virus disease broke out, starting in Guinea. Although it was not the first outbreak (but the 26^th one), it spread in different parts of Africa. The virus spread in West Africa, Sierra Leone and Liberia. But this time, there were also a few cases in the United Kingdom, United States, Spain and Sardinia. This caused many doctors and other medical workers such as nurses to get affected by the harsh virus.

Around a year after the virus spread human clinical trials began, testing possible vaccines on patients. There were many vaccines that were possible candidates, like the ChAd3-ZEBOV, developed by GlaxoSmithKline in collaboration with the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, STRIVE (aka Sierra Leone Trial to Introduce a Vaccine against Ebola) are another group working together to find a solution to this deadly virus. But as The World Health Organization states, none of the vaccines are currently licensed but were still proven to be triumphant in December of 2015.

Figure 1: Ebola vaccine human trials start in Liberia

A vaccine developed by NewLink Genetics and Merck Vaccines USA in collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada, named VSV-EBOV, seemed to be something different. CNN stated the VSV-EBOV is highly effective and that “the results so far on this trial show 100% efficacy”. After being tested on 7651 residents and 1200 first class workers like nurses or other medics in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. The vaccine has proven itself to be both safe and sufficient.

While I was reading all these articles and posts, I thought to myself, how do these vaccines work? What do they do? Well, I honestly think that the medical industry is quite complicated to understand. According to what Kendall Costello stated on DOGOnews, here is the simplest way to explain how the vaccine works; VSV-EBOV is basically “a weaker form of the virus”. The vaccine is genetically modified to behave like the virus itself, and lets the immune system know how to fight the virus if the body is ever infected by Ebola.

After more than 11,000 deaths, and many failed vaccines, the countries of the world had many different ways of dealing with both preventing and ending Ebola. From blood transfusions to man-made antibodies or even antiviral drugs, I believe that the VSV-EBOV is one of the greatest developments. This vaccine has is a major life changer for many people around the world.

(Word count without citation: 497)

Citation:

"Ebola Virus Disease." World Health Organization. N.p., Aug. 2015. Web. 17 Jan. 2016.

"Ebola Virus Epidemic in West Africa." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2016.

Spark, Laura Smith-. "Ebola Vaccine 'highly Effective' in Trials - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 3 Aug. 2015. Web. 17 Jan. 2016.

Gallagher, James. "Ebola Vaccine Is 'potential Game-changer' - BBC News." BBC News. N.p., 31 July 2015. Web. 17 Jan. 2016.

Costello, Kendall. "Breakthrough Ebola Vaccine Provides Hope for West Africa." DOGOnews. N.p., 31 Aug. 2015. Web. 17 Jan. 2016.