An experimental vaccine tested on thousands of people in Guinea who were exposed to Ebola has shown such promising results, that the researchers decided to release the results early.
The rVSV-vectored Ebola vaccine had an astounding 100 percent success rate in a clinical trial involving 7,651 people, according to a report in the medical journal The Lancet this Friday.
Currently, there is no licensed vaccine or treatment for Ebola, which has killed more than 11,200 people, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
From Al Jazeera America:
If proven effective, the vaccine could be “a game-changer,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, which sponsored the trial.
In some 4,000 people who received the vaccine within 10 days of being identified as an Ebola contact, there were no cases of the disease. That compared with 16 cases in more than 3,500 people who only got the shot after 10 days.
Liberia, worst hit by the outbreak last year, was declared Ebola free on May 9.
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