The most recent Ebola outbreak ravaged multiple countries in West Africa, spurring much conversation over a preventative vaccine. Unfortunately, there is no such vaccine at this point in time. However, due to the urgency of this disease, science may be on the precipice of creating one. Here’s a look at the most promising prospect for an Ebola vaccine, as well as a few pitfalls that have slowed down the process.
Developments for an Ebola Vaccine
One of the most promising developments for an Ebola vaccine comes from a study recently published in Nature Medicine, a biomedical research journal. Researchers for the study treated rhesus monkeys with an experimental vaccine that proved to protect them from the virus for upwards of 10 months. Currently, this vaccine is being tested on human subjects in a small clinical trial in the United States. Unfortunately, researchers don’t expect to have results for the human tests until at least the end of 2014.
Difficulties in Developing a Vaccine
One of the biggest setbacks in developing an Ebola vaccine is that the vaccine creation process in general can take quite a long time. They require extensive research, and human trials can only take place under very specific circumstances due to ethical guidelines established for medical testing. Additionally, developing a vaccine can be quite expensive, and this is especially so for an Ebola vaccine, because researchers want to expedite the process as much as possible.
Unfortunately, there are commercial issues at work that are preventing the development of the vaccine as well. There is currently another vaccine awaiting testing in Canada, but the company who owns the license for it is worried about losing those rights during the process. Therefore, they’ve relegated their entire stock to a warehouse.
