An emergency vaccination trial was launched to combat a new epidemic of the deadly strain of the Sudan virus of the Ebola virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the Uganda test had been established with “unprecedented speed” in what could serve as a model to manage future epidemics of disease.
The rapid deployment comes after the death of a hemorrhagic fever nurse last week, which caused urgent action to prevent additional spread.
The trial initially vaccine 40 people related to the deceased nurse, including direct contacts and contacts of contacts.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the Uganda trial had been created with “unprecedented speed”
Getty
Health managers will also vaccinate the contacts of two other infected people in the coming days, creating what experts call vaccination rings in cases.
The 32 -year -old nurse had asked for treatment in a hospital near Kampala before going to Mbale in eastern Uganda, where he was admitted to a public hospital.
The Ebola Sudan strain hit Uganda five times before, with a mortality rate that can reach 50% of infected people.
The most recent epidemic in September 2022 made more than 70 lives before being contained.
Latest developments:
The trial initially vaccinated 40 people related to the deceased nurse, including direct contacts and contacts of contacts
Getty
Previous attempts to carry out complete vaccination trials were difficult, as the virus generally appears in remote areas before disappearing quickly.
While Uganda had access to the same candidate vaccine during the last epidemic, they could not organize the tests fairly quickly.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Managing Director, described the rapid configuration of the test “a critical achievement of better pandemic preparation and save lives when epidemics occur”.
Preliminary trials have shown that the vaccine was safe and capable of creating a strong immune response, although it has not yet been tested during a real epidemic.
Health managers will also vaccinate the contacts of two other infected people in the coming days, creating what experts call vaccination rings in cases
Getty
Professor Christophe Fraser of the Oxford Pandemic Sciences Institute noted that the establishment of vaccine rings is a standard response to relatively slow emerging infections.
The vaccine candidate is provided by the International Aids Vaccine (IAVI) initiative, of which President Mark Feinberg stressed the importance of having vaccine doses already available in the country.
“Recognized, having doses of vaccines easily available in the country allowed us to mobilize in a few days,” said Feinberg.
The trial implies an effort of collaboration between several organizations, notably WHO, the Ugandan Ministry of Health, Uganda Virus Research Institute and Makerere University Lung Institute.