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#Ebola vaccine trials halted.
Dec. 20th, 2014 04:31 pmPart of the reason why Ebola Virus scares the shit out of people is that caretakers are infected with the virus at an alarming rate. To prevent infection, caretakers use awkward, complicated, burdensome gear, and follow strict protocols for putting on and (very importantly) taking off their gear. Any failure in gear or protocol puts the caretaker at risk of infection, death, and passing the virus on to others.
An effective vaccine would of course make things enormously simpler, which is why the search for a vaccine has been a top priority for world health authorities. Fortunately, there are several candidate vaccines currently undergoing field trials. Unfortunately, one of the most promising vaccines just hit a snag. Some patients develop inflammation and joint pains after taking the vaccine, and we don't know why. The why is important. Joint pains are one of the long-term complications of Ebola, assuming one survives. If the inflammation is due to immune response, then could the faux virus have replicated? Is there a risk of infection?
Researchers are still working to figure out what's happening. In the meanwhile, we've hit the pause button on further research of this vaccine. And time is not on our side. As of this writing, there are over 18,000 cases of Ebola, with almost 7000 dead. And the virus is still spreading.
An effective vaccine would of course make things enormously simpler, which is why the search for a vaccine has been a top priority for world health authorities. Fortunately, there are several candidate vaccines currently undergoing field trials. Unfortunately, one of the most promising vaccines just hit a snag. Some patients develop inflammation and joint pains after taking the vaccine, and we don't know why. The why is important. Joint pains are one of the long-term complications of Ebola, assuming one survives. If the inflammation is due to immune response, then could the faux virus have replicated? Is there a risk of infection?
Researchers are still working to figure out what's happening. In the meanwhile, we've hit the pause button on further research of this vaccine. And time is not on our side. As of this writing, there are over 18,000 cases of Ebola, with almost 7000 dead. And the virus is still spreading.
