Researchers reported on Monday that a new inhalable Ebola vaccine has been discovered that can protect against the deadly virus in monkeys with just one dose. The paper, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, proved that the aerosol Ebola vaccine activates immune cells in the respiratory system of rhesus monkeys and provides complete protection against the vaccine. Researchers were conducted by researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
The author of the article stated that this is the first attempt to use aerosol to vaccinate monkeys against viral hemorrhagic fever.
"The first few decades of attempts to develop an Ebola vaccine were unsuccessful," said Alexander Bukreyev, a virologist from the University of Texas Medical Division in Galveston and one of the authors of the paper. )Say. "This is one of the few effective vaccines."
But success in monkeys does not guarantee that the vaccine will be effective in humans. This year, a drug that worked on monkeys failed to help humans.
"This is a positive development," said Daniel Bausch, a virologist from Tulane University. "But it's not a breakthrough or'find it'."
This new vaccine can be taken without the help of medical professionals. Therefore, if it proves to be effective in humans, the vaccine will be particularly useful in developing countries, where there is a severe shortage of doctors and nurses. This is the case in West Africa. There, the worst Ebola epidemic in history has not yet been eliminated.
"At present, the discussion in this field is whether this round of Ebola will make a radical change in vaccine research, or will it only become another panic that will be forgotten," the University of Louisville ( University of Louisville) medical virologist Igor Lukashevich (Igor Lukashevich) said. "This kind of aerosol vaccine is really what this field currently needs."
Michelle Meyer, the first author of the paper and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Galveston Medical Branch, said that if you come into contact with a few drops of infected body fluids, the respiratory tract may become Ebola virus. Entrance.
The study found that the aerosol vaccine produced more Ebola immune cells in the lungs than blood and spleen. "These cells in the lungs act as the first protective barrier," Meyer said. "It is best to stop the virus where it is infected."
Among the rhesus monkeys used in the study, four took one dose of the aerosol vaccine, four took two doses, and two took the vaccine in liquid form. There are also two unvaccinated, serving as research subjects in the control group.
Four weeks later, all 12 monkeys were injected with 1,000 times the lethal dose of Ebola virus. A little more than a week later, the two unvaccinated monkeys were infected with the virus and were euthanized, but the vaccinated monkeys were still healthy. In the end, the researchers euthanized the surviving monkeys and checked their blood and tissues. No trace of Ebola virus was found.
"A single dose of an aerosol vaccine can prevent these animals from dying and becoming seriously ill," Meyer said.