Research

Fast track development of Ebola Vaccines

Thu, 2015-01-15 21:44 — mike kraft

Principles and target product criteria

THE CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DESEASE AND POLICY Jan 12, 2015

The unprecedented morbidity and mortality from the 2013- 2015 Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic in West Africa has challenged every aspect of our global ability to effectively detect, respond to, and control such a rapidly emerging infectious disease crisis.

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Magic Blood? Emory's Ebola Plasma Bank

Thu, 2015-01-15 14:33 — mike kraft

NBC NEWS by Maggie Fox Jan. 14, 2015
Cup by cup, Emory University is collecting bags of liquid gold from the small club of American Ebola survivors.

They're collecting the plasma as part of an experiment to see if transfusing blood from people who have lived through the horrific infection can save the newly ill. Many of the survivors have been given this so-called convalescent plasma, but no one knows if it's actually helping.

"The protocol allows us to collect and transfuse convalescent plasma from U.S. Ebola survivors," says Dr. Anne Winkler, the Emory pathologist overseeing the study. "This is a completely voluntary process."

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Probe of Ebola burial practices pinpoints risks, triggers changes

Wed, 2015-01-14 21:00 — mike kraft

CENTER FOR DISEASE POLICY AND RESEARCH by Lisa Schnirring Jan. 13, 2015

An early September assessment of burial practices in some of Sierra Leone's Ebola hot spots revealed a host of problems that were probably helping fuel ongoing virus transmission in the country, experts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Sierra Leone's health ministry reported today.

The team conducted its first assessment in three high-risk areas, focusing on burial practices, cemetery management, and adherence to recommended practices. Then they looked at the issues again the following month on a broader scale ahead of the Sierra Leone government's national rollout of standard procedures for safe and dignified burials. They published their findings in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

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http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2015/01/probe-ebola-burial-practices-pinpoints-risks-triggers-changes

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Broad Institute analyzes Ebola genomes

Wed, 2015-01-14 16:39 — mike kraft

MIT THE TECH by Jennifer F. Switzer Jan. 14, 2015

CAMBRIDGE , MA-- At the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, in a lab run by accomplished computational geneticist Pardis Sabeti ’97, researchers have collaborated with institutions in the U.S. and abroad to sequence and analyze more than 99 Ebola virus genomes collected by fellow scientists in Sierra Leone. They are on the lookout for mutations that could aid in developing new treatment options for Ebola, or that could serve as indications that the virus is evolving to become more deadly.

Contained within the virus’s 19,000 base-pair genome, the team has found more than 300 genetic changes that separate the 2014 Ebola virus from its predecessors. Of interest is one particular cluster of mutations which, having outlasted other genetic variations, could possibly be conferring some sort of genetic advantage to the virus ebola patients for sequencing.

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http://tech.mit.edu/V134/N62/ebola.htm

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Ebola Clue Lurks in 10 Million Zambian Bats

Tue, 2015-01-13 22:58 — mike kraft

BLOOMBERG by Matthew Hill Jan. 12, 2015

At 4:50 a.m. at the Kasanka National Park in northern Zambia, tourists watch from a platform in a tree as the sound of millions of wings accompanies the sunrise.

Straw-coloured Fruit Bats fly in Kasanka National Park, Zambia. Photographer: Fabian von Poser/Getty Images

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Extreme measures' needed to see Ebola shot development through

Tue, 2015-01-13 01:00 — mike kraft

REUTERS by Kate Kelland Jan.12, 2015
LONDON --Developing and bringing to market effective Ebola vaccines requires extreme measures and unprecedented international cooperation, global health experts said on Monday.

A health worker wearing protective gear stands outside a quarantine zone in a Red Cross facility in the town of Koidu, Kono district in Eastern Sierra Leone December 18, 2014.Credit: Reuters/Baz Ratner

In an interim report on a roadmap for vaccines against the current and any future outbreaks of the deadly virus, infectious disease specialists Jeremy Farrar and Mike Osterholm said the scope of effort was "too complex for any single government, organization or company". They called for sustained public-private sector partnership and commitment.

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WHO experts chart next steps for Ebola vaccine trials

Mon, 2015-01-12 22:08 — mike kraft

CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE AND POLICY RESEARCH by Lisa Schnirring Jan. 9, 2015

The next steps in testing Ebola vaccines as well as a picture of how they might be used in West Africa's outbreak region became clearer today as officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) shared the outcome of yesterday's (Thursday's) high-level meeting in Geneva.

Large phase 3 trials in West Africa's outbreak setting will be next up to see if the vaccines work, with the studies designed to collect more safety data, a task usually covered in phase 2 trials, experts involved in the meeting said today at a WHO media telebriefing. However, as Ebola infections drop off in the outbreak region, scientists face a closing window of opportunity to see how the vaccines perform in a real-life setting.

Experts also signaled a possible role for two Ebola vaccine formulations: a single-dose vaccine providing shorter-term immunity that could be used to tamp down Ebola flare-ups and a prime-boost vaccine that may provide more durable immunity and could be used for other immunization strategies.

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In Africa, a Decline in New Ebola Cases Complicates Vaccine Development

Sun, 2015-01-11 14:42 — mike kraft

NEW YORK TIMES by Andrew Pollack Jan. 9, 2015

As authorities and drug companies hurriedly prepare to begin testing Ebola vaccines in West Africa, they are starting to contemplate a new challenge: whether an ebbing of the outbreak could make it more difficult to determine if the experimental vaccines are effective.

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Health 2 Leading Ebola Vaccines Appear Safe, Further Tests Starting

Fri, 2015-01-09 15:13 — mike kraft

ASSOCIATED PRESS by Maria Cheng Jan. 9, 2015
LONDON --The World Health Organizationsays the two leading Ebola vaccines appear safe and will soon be tested in healthy volunteers in West Africa.

After an expert meeting this week, WHO said there is now enough information to conclude that the two most advanced Ebola vaccines ? one made by GlaxoSmithKline and the other licensed by Merck and NewLink ? have "an acceptable safety profile."

In a press briefing on Friday, Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, who heads WHO's Ebola vaccine efforts, said "the cupboard (for Ebola vaccines) is filling up rapidly."

She said further trials in healthy people in West Africa, including health workers, are scheduled to start soon. Kieny added several other vaccines were being developed in the U.S., Russia and elsewhere.

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http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/leading-ebola-vaccines-safe-tests-starting-28107527

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Ebola: vaccine trials can offer ‘signs of hope’ says UN health chief

Fri, 2015-01-09 02:26 — mike kraft

UNITED NATIONS NEWS CENTRE Jan. 8, 2015

GENEVA--The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today convened in Geneva its second ever high-level meeting on Ebola vaccines access and financing, to review the current status of clinical trials and plans for Phase II and Phase III efficacy trials.

WHO mobile lab scientists at the crossing point between Guinea and Sierra Leone, two of the countries affected by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Photo: WHO/Saffea Gborie

“We are here to take stock, plan the next steps, and make sure that all partners are working in tandem. We all want the momentum and sense of urgency to continue,” Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO said as she kicked off the meeting.

The most advanced candidate Ebola vaccine is scheduled to enter Phase III efficacy clinical trials in West Africa in January/February 2015, and if shown effective – will be available for deployment a few months later.

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