A vaccine for Ebola might be ready by November
The World Health Organization announced on Friday that two vaccines against the deadly Ebola virus might be ready by November. The priority would be given to medical personnel working on the front lines, which makeup the highest risk group The New York Times reports.
An assistant director general at the W.H.O., Marie-Paule Kieny, told the Times over a telephone news conference that the two vaccines still need to undergo the first round of safety checks. The vaccines are expected to be ready to use by November, and health care personnel will be the first group to be vaccinated.
The Times reports that the organization also stated that a serum made from the blood of fully recovered individuals can be used for treatment. The W.H.O. also stressed that investment is needed in experimental therapies to cope with the ongoing health crisis.
Concerns about the safety of health care workers who risk their lives trying to treat individuals with the disease has been growing immensely recently. Last Tuesday, the medical workers at the John F. Kennedy hospital in in the Liberian capital of Monrovia went on strike. They are demanding better working conditions to protect themselves from contracting the disease. The workers are refusing to return to work until they are provided with the proper protective equipment The Guardian reported.
The Ebola virus was discovered in 1976, but this year's outbreak is the deadliest and most widespread in history. More than 2,000 people have died. Approximately 3,700 people have been infected as of 31 Aug. 2014, according to the W.H.O. statistics reported by CNN. The nations of Western Africa have been struggling to cope with the outbreak, with some declaring states of emergency.
On Tuesday, at a United Nations meeting, the head of the international non-profit organization Doctors Without Borders Joanne Liu alarmed nations about the severity of the outbreak and urged nations to actively get involved before it's too late The Guardian said.
