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posted by martyb on Thursday November 14 2019, @06:54AM   Printer-friendly
from the it's-not-hyperbole dept.

According to Bruce Lee of Forbes magazine, the world now has an actual vaccine effective against Ebola.

It's official. We now have a real Ebola vaccine. Not a kind-of-almost-sort-of-there vaccine. Not an experimental-use vaccine. Not a vaccine just for macaques. No, this is a vaccine that the European Commission has just approved for use in humans, the first of its kind.

It is worth noting that there are four variants of Ebola that infect humans, however the one this vaccine "Ervebo" is effective against is the deadly Zaire Ebola virus.

Ervebo is a genetically engineered, replication-competent, attenuated live vaccine. Data from clinical trials and compassionate use programs have shown that Ervebo protects against Ebola virus disease in humans following a single dose administration.

The vaccine has been tested on approximately 16,000 people so far with very good results

Health officials have been using the vaccine on an experimental basis to try to control Ebola outbreaks that have been going on in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) [...] the war-torn DRC hasn't been the easiest place to test the vaccine:

Nevertheless, researchers managed to test the efficacy of the vaccine in the country. As the WHO reported in April, this vaccine had an estimated protective efficacy of 97.5% in field studies there. That would mean if a hundred people vaccinated were exposed to the virus, less than three would end up getting infected. That's a remarkably high efficacy. After all, nothing in life is 100%. However, keep in mind that the efficacy of a vaccine also depends on how many people around you are vaccinated

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing Merck's application for approval of the vaccine.

Related Coverage
Two Effective Treatments for Ebola Announced


Original Submission

Related Stories

Two Effective Treatments for Ebola Announced 3 comments

A Cure for Ebola? Two New Treatments Prove Highly Effective in Congo

In a development that transforms the fight against Ebola, two experimental treatments are working so well that they will now be offered to all patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo, scientists announced on Monday.

The antibody-based treatments are quite powerful — "Now we can say that 90 percent can come out of treatment cured," one scientist said — that they raise hopes that the disastrous epidemic in eastern Congo can soon be stopped.

Offering patients a real cure "may contribute to them feeling more comfortable about seeking care early," said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who joined the World Health Organization and the Congolese government in making the announcement.

[...] The new experimental treatments, known as REGN-EB3 and mAb-114, are both cocktails of monoclonal antibodies that are infused intravenously into the blood. Antibodies are Y-shaped proteins normally made by the immune system that clump onto the outer shells of viral particles, preventing them from entering cells. The two new treatments are synthetic versions grown under laboratory conditions.

Also at STAT News and The Guardian.

[Ed note: Updated to include a submission from Bytram after the break]

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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @07:21AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @07:21AM (#920240)

    If the gov didn't approve it, it must not work. And if they approve it it means it works instead of being some political move.

  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Thursday November 14 2019, @09:11AM (5 children)

    by jmichaelhudsondotnet (8122) on Thursday November 14 2019, @09:11AM (#920267) Journal

    I will believe a lab of scientists who say they have a vaccine and a peer group of scientists who agree.

    I will not believe a megacorporation and a government agency with any history or colonialism or experimentation on civilians.

    The united states and all of its megacorporations have a long history of only colonialism and a long history of experimenting on civilians.

    If I were an african I would prefer ebola to a vaccine cooked up for my geographic area by bayer and the cia, thank you very much.

    What you get from the doctor trying to give you the vaccine is a hand wave, don't worry your pretty little head. Of course they wouldn't put anything extra in the vaccine.

    If they can't make an intel processor without a backdoor, then they can't make a vaccine without a piggyback bug.

    Distrusting governments and institutions affects the trust of science. Science of vaccines and the making of vaccines are two completely separate things, and after watching this play out for decades now, I can say for certain that the disconnect is intentional.

    As in CNN is only able to perceive this debate as pro science vs against science, and censors any discussion of institutional trust, demonstrating their true categorical imperative for all to see.

    I will take a vaccine from the same batch the head of the cdc and ceo of bayer gets theirs thank you, as long as we are both allowed to select our syringe at random from a bucket.

    But if bayer and the cia are giving me my vaccine specifically for me, no thank you.

    Science does not work in a zero trust society, which is something they should have thought of before CNN tried to tell us that epstein killed himself.

    thesesystemsarefailing.net

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Thursday November 14 2019, @10:08AM (4 children)

      by GreatAuntAnesthesia (3275) on Thursday November 14 2019, @10:08AM (#920278) Journal

      The united states and all of its megacorporations have a long history of ...

      ...this is a vaccine that the European Commission has just approved...

      Hey buddy, you ever seen that big blue wet thing on the East and West extremities of your country? That's called the ocean. Beyond that, there exist loads and loads of other countries! Some of them are very different to America! TMYK!

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by NateMich on Thursday November 14 2019, @12:13PM

        by NateMich (6662) on Thursday November 14 2019, @12:13PM (#920296)

        The united states and all of its megacorporations have a long history of ...

                ...this is a vaccine that the European Commission has just approved...

        Hey buddy, you ever seen that big blue wet thing on the East and West extremities of your country? That's called the ocean. Beyond that, there exist loads and loads of other countries! Some of them are very different to America! TMYK!

        But conspiracy theorists are pretty much the same everywhere.

      • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:19PM

        by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:19PM (#920413) Journal

        Well, it's emotive conspiracy theory, and shouldn't be taken seriously. (There are lots of conspiracy theories that should be taken seriously. This doesn't, of course, mean that they're correct, merely that there is reasonable grounds for considering them. Many of them are probably correct, but can't be proven, so who knows which ones.)

        That said, the Europeans don't have a shining history in Africa. The Belgian Congo was essentially a slave camp, which is why it's so disorderly today. At one point people were so desperate that they were willing to charge machine guns armed only with spears.

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      • (Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday November 14 2019, @09:43PM

        by Bot (3902) on Thursday November 14 2019, @09:43PM (#920515) Journal

        Today in EU, roche and novartis have been caught CONSPIRING to remove the cheaper treatment, so that Italian health system had to pay for the pricier one.

        Come on, conspiracy denialists, rationalize away.

        --
        Account abandoned.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 16 2019, @05:49AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 16 2019, @05:49AM (#920899)

        Don't waste your time trying to convince him. This thread has all you need to know https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=34235&page=1&cid=910134#commentwrap [soylentnews.org]

  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday November 14 2019, @12:38PM (9 children)

    by Bot (3902) on Thursday November 14 2019, @12:38PM (#920307) Journal

    then, there is no more incentive to contain ebola.

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    Account abandoned.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @03:58PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @03:58PM (#920379)

      My opinion from tomorrow has not changed, ebola is noot a big deal.

    • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday November 14 2019, @04:33PM (7 children)

      by Freeman (732) on Thursday November 14 2019, @04:33PM (#920396) Journal

      Sure, just like there was no reason to contain smallpox or eradicate it, since there was a vaccine.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
      • (Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday November 14 2019, @04:59PM (6 children)

        by Bot (3902) on Thursday November 14 2019, @04:59PM (#920405) Journal

        Smallpox vaccines happened in a different era.

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        Account abandoned.
        • (Score: 4, Informative) by Freeman on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:23PM (5 children)

          by Freeman (732) on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:23PM (#920415) Journal

          Yet, it's probably the best thing to compare Ebola with.

          Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by one of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor.[7] The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977 and the World Health Organization (WHO) certified the global eradication of the disease in 1980.[10] The risk of death following contracting the disease was about 30%, with higher rates among babies.[6][11] Often those who survived had extensive scarring of their skin and some were left blind.[6]

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox [wikipedia.org]

          Ebola virus disease (EVD), also known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) or simply Ebola, is a viral hemorrhagic fever of humans and other primates caused by ebolaviruses.[1] Signs and symptoms typically start between two days and three weeks after contracting the virus with a fever, sore throat, muscular pain, and headaches.[1] Vomiting, diarrhea and rash usually follow, along with decreased function of the liver and kidneys.[1] At this time, some people begin to bleed both internally and externally.[1] The disease has a high risk of death, killing 25% to 90% of those infected, with an average of about 50%.[1] This is often due to low blood pressure from fluid loss, and typically follows 6 to 16 days after symptoms appear.[2]

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_disease [wikipedia.org]

          Ebola has similar, if not a much risk of death, when compared with smallpox. Saying that we shouldn't contain / eradicate Ebola is insane, even though we have a vaccine. Who knows how effective the new Ebola vaccine actually is. The Smallpox vaccine was 95% effective and had 1%-2% serious side effects. I would be quite happy, if we could eradicate Ebola as we did with Smallpox.

          --
          Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
          • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:26PM

            by Freeman (732) on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:26PM (#920418) Journal

            That was supposed to be "much higher risk of death".

            --
            Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
          • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:36PM (3 children)

            by Freeman (732) on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:36PM (#920425) Journal

            The topic lead me off in a tangent of looking up smallpox vaccines. The delivery method leaves something to be desired. Emphasis mine.

            ACAM2000 is a smallpox vaccine developed by Acambis. It was approved for use in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on 31 August 2007.
            [...]
            A droplet of ACAM2000 is administered by the percutaneous route (scarification) using 15 jabs of a bifurcated needle. ACAM2000 should not be injected by the intradermal, subcutaneous, intramuscular, or intravenous route.[17]

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox_vaccine [wikipedia.org]

            The bifurcated needle is a narrow steel rod, approximately 2.5 inches (6 cm) long with two prongs at one end. It was designed to hold one dose of reconstituted freeze-dried smallpox vaccine between its prongs.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifurcated_needle [wikipedia.org]

            --
            Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
            • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday November 15 2019, @02:27AM (2 children)

              by Reziac (2489) on Friday November 15 2019, @02:27AM (#920588) Homepage

              In my generation, everyone had that smallpox vaccine scar, usually on the right shoulder and about half an inch across. We regarded it as a sign of civilization.

              --
              And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
              • (Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Friday November 15 2019, @06:18PM (1 child)

                by Osamabobama (5842) on Friday November 15 2019, @06:18PM (#920743)

                My older brother has such a scar, but I do not, as the vaccine was phased out between our vaccine schedule dates. However, I received the vaccine more recently as a member of the military. I didn't develop a scar.

                I didn't count the number of bifurcated needle jabs I got, though.

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                • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday November 15 2019, @08:03PM

                  by Reziac (2489) on Friday November 15 2019, @08:03PM (#920778) Homepage

                  You must be a young'un, then. P)

                  My sister's scar is about half the size of mine (being old standard type), and she got hers 6 or 7 years later (1964?); I remember being told the reason was "now with fewer needles!"

                  --
                  And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
  • (Score: 1) by doke on Thursday November 14 2019, @02:08PM (4 children)

    by doke (6955) on Thursday November 14 2019, @02:08PM (#920329)

    What does this cost? I found a bunch of press releases, but couldn't find what this cost. A vaccine will be less applied if many of the target population are unable to afford it.

    • (Score: 4, Touché) by Freeman on Thursday November 14 2019, @04:36PM (2 children)

      by Freeman (732) on Thursday November 14 2019, @04:36PM (#920398) Journal

      I doubt the target population was affording the free medical care they were being given to help contain the outbreaks of ebola. In fact I would be highly surprised, if African countries bore the brunt of the cost of medical care for the ebola outbreaks. It seems to me that it's one of those evil westerner things of giving time / money to help those in need.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
      • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:25PM (1 child)

        by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:25PM (#920416) Journal

        You've got some points, but the reason Western nations were so willing to help was to prevent Ebola from spreading to them.

        Individual people may be altruistic, but governments and corporations don't work that way. A sole-proprietorship company may occasionally act altruistically.

        N.B.: I'm not claiming that governments and corporations wouldn't find it advantageous to be mildly altruistic, just that they don't act that way. Even then you can find occasional examples for brief periods of time. Usually the time when the company or government develops a good reputation and increasing success, just before a change of management.

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        • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:30PM

          by Freeman (732) on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:30PM (#920421) Journal

          Nothing like the risk of fire spreading to their house for people to support their local fire department. Etc, etc. Yes, it may just be self-preservation in a lot of cases.

          --
          Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:03PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:03PM (#920407)

      It costs $3,500,000.32 per dose. It's expensive because $0.32 is the cost to manufacture it and $3,500,000.00 for marketing costs.

  • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday November 15 2019, @02:31AM

    by Reziac (2489) on Friday November 15 2019, @02:31AM (#920590) Homepage

    For those who (like myself) find this fascinating, somewhere in this 7 hour recording (which starts a ways in; they didn't edit out dead time) of the Maurice Hilleman Vaccine Symposium, you will find a segment on early ebola vaccine research.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGQZcJTqRMY [youtube.com]

    --
    And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 16 2019, @06:40PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 16 2019, @06:40PM (#921030)

    "Ervebo is a genetically engineered, replication-competent, attenuated live vaccine."

    here comes World War Z!

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