Download Ebola Vaccine Is the First to Block Infection

Ebola Vaccine Is the First to Block Infection
Since the outbreak of the most recent Ebola epidemic in West Africa, more than 11,000 people have died and
more than 15,000 people have been infected with the virus. While some drug treatments have been marginally
effective, no vaccine to protect against infection has yet been developed, although a number are currently being
tested.
One of those, developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada and manufactured by Merck, showed early
promise in 2015. Now, a new report published in the journal Lancet provides even more encouraging results that
suggest it may be the first vaccine to prevent infection with Ebola.
The trial involved more than 11,000 people living in Guinea, one of the West African countries that bore the brunt
of the recent Ebola epidemic. Once a case of Ebola was confirmed, a list of people who had come in contact with
the patient was compiled, and they were randomly assigned to either receive the vaccine, called rVSV-ZEBOV,
immediately or three weeks later. All participants were tested for presence of Ebola. After 10 days, there were no
cases of Ebola infection among those who were vaccinated, while 23 people were diagnosed with Ebola in the
group that did not receive the vaccine immediately.
The positive results led the study organizers to provide the vaccine to all people who had come in contact with
Ebola patients. That included family members who lived with patients and were exposed to their clothing or linens,
as well as the next ring of people who had interacted with these contacts. Side effects from the vaccine, which
were monitored up to 12 weeks after immunization, were relatively rare and included headache, muscle pain, fever
and anaphylaxis.
More studies will be conducted on the people who were vaccinated to see if their immune responses indeed were
boosted by the shot. In the meantime, based on the positive early results, Merck agreed to provide the World
Health Organization with 300,000 doses of the vaccine for emergency use in health care workers and people at
highest risk of infection in an effort to control spread of the virus. If the positive results are confirmed and
repeated, the vaccine could play a critical role in stopping the Ebola epidemic and preventing future outbreaks.
SOURCE: http://time.com/4611239/ebola-vaccine-infection-virus/
VOCABULARIES:
1. Epidemic – a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time.
2. Marginally – to only a limited extent; slightly.
3. Brunt – the worst part or chief impact of a specified thing.
4. Diagnosed – identify the nature of an illness or other problem through examination
5. Relatively – in relation to, compared to, or proportion of something else
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:
1. Where did the trial for the first Ebola vaccine take place and how many people were involved in it?
2. What were the relatively rare side effects of the vaccine? Please enumerate them.
3. How many doses of the vaccine did Merck give to the World Health Organization for emergency use?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. When was the most recent outbreak of disease in your country? What was the disease and how long did it
last?
2. When you hear of an outbreak in your country, what is the first thing you do and why do you do that? Also,
do you partake in vaccination prepared by the government?
3. Maintaining proper hygiene is an excellent way to avoid getting sick. Can you give me three (3) health
practices you do on a daily basis?