• Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
    • SOKO MRKT
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
    • Essence Holiday Gift Guide 2023
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
      • Hair News
      • Natural
      • Relaxed
      • Transitioning
      • Weave
      • 4C
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
    • SOKO MRKT
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
    • Essence Holiday Gift Guide 2023
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home • News

Ebola Vaccine Is the First to Block Infection

Researchers report encouraging results from a trial of an Ebola vaccine that is the first to prevent infection from the deadly virus
Ebola Vaccine Is the First to Block Infection
Cellou Binani—AFP/Getty Images
By Alice Park · Updated October 26, 2020

This article was originally published on TIME.

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.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest in hair, beauty, style and celebrity news.

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.

COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now