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Kenya: Two more Kenyans have been vaccinated against Ebola in the ongoing human trials in Kilifi, bringing to three the number of people who have got the VSV?Ebola jab so far.
According to Patricia Njuguna of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) Wellcome Trust Research Programme, the exercise which started last month slowed down over the Christmas period but they are now open for volunteers.
The VSV(Vesicular Stomatitis Virus)?Ebola is also being tested in the US, Germany, Switzerland and Gabon.
"We anticipate to enrol 40 volunteers to this study in Kenya who will be followed up for a year," Dr Njuguna told The Standard on Wednesday.
Since participants are volunteering for a worthy cause, she said, they are not given any monetary benefits but only compensated for their time and transport costs.
"We hope to have initial results by mid 2015 and the complete results by early 2016," she said.
Last month Kemri Director Solomon Mpoke announced the launch of the exercise with the first Kenyan getting vaccinated at Kilifi County Hospital in mid December.
Single dose
He said phase one trials will test the vaccine's safety and its ability to generate an immune response in healthy adults.
"The vaccine is administered as a single dose after which the participants will be monitored closely," Prof Mpoke said.
This is part of a wider World Health Organisation initiative that is funded by the Wellcome Trust.
"The approvals were fast?tracked by Kemri and the Pharmacy and Poisons Board so that a six to seven months approval process was conducted in only six weeks," said Mpoke.
He said although the vaccine trials were being fast-tracked, the safety of the volunteers would remain key. The trials target health workers due to their first-line contact with Ebola patients. Health workers, the director said, are easier to educate due to their knowledge of how vaccines work.
"However, further sensitisation by the trial investigators has been carried out to educate participants on any potential risks," says Prof Mpoke.
He said demonstrating safety and immune responses by the vaccine in the local population will facilitate use of the vaccine if necessary.
"After these Phase 1 trials, the next step will be to test the vaccine further in the countries affected by the Ebola outbreak," he said.
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