Ebola epidemic vaccine from November

Ebola epidemic: vaccine could be available in November

09/07/2014

More than 2,000 deaths have already been claimed by the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. There are still no effective and tested medicines for the dangerous infectious disease. But now there is hope: according to the World Health Organization (WHO), a vaccine could already be available in November.

Vaccine against Ebola possibly in November

The Ebola epidemic, which has been rampant in West Africa for months, has already claimed more than 2,000 lives. Effective and tested drugs against the dangerous infectious disease are not yet. Doctors usually limit themselves to alleviating the typical Ebola symptoms such as fever, diarrhea, nausea, internal and external hemorrhage. But now there is hope: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a vaccine against Ebola could already be available in November.

Experimental drugs should be tested on site

According to a news agency dpa news agency, WHO Secretary-General Marie Paule Kieny said in Geneva on Friday that two promising vaccines will be tested by then. If the tests are positive, doctors and helpers in the affected countries could be vaccinated. Since Thursday, more than 200 physicians and other experts from around the world, at the invitation of the WHO, have discussed how to stop the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Accordingly, several experimental drugs for the treatment of Ebola will be tested on-site, as soon as the necessary quantities are available.

Already over 2,000 Ebola dead

According to experts, blood and plasma transfusions are also promising. For this, however, must first be installed the necessary equipment in the hospitals. However, it would take another six to nine months to effectively curb the disease, according to the WHO. The United Nations has sent an Ebola emergency call to the international community. 460 million euros are needed. According to the WHO, the number of Ebola deaths rose to 2,097 in the three worst affected countries alone. According to the organization in Geneva, a total of 3,944 cases of probable or confirmed Ebola infections were reported from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. In addition, there were 23 cases with eight dead in Nigeria, where the outbreak is so far better under control.

Experts assume a high number of unreported cases

Experts from the WHO and other experts, however, assume that far more people than previously registered officially, have fallen victim to the epidemic. There is a high number of unreported cases. It is estimated that the number of people infected with Ebola could rapidly increase to more than 20,000. The aid organization „Doctors Without Borders“ had recently criticized the behavior of developed countries in the fight against the disease. The head of the French section of Doctors Without Borders, Mego Terzian, told dpa that by developed countries so far „besides numerous speeches and promises of financial help“ nothing happened. In contrast to the usual practice, in mid-August the WHO declared that it would allow treatments for Ebola whose effects on humans have not yet been fully explored. (Ad)