Ebola Virus Cure & Treatment Update: Inhalable Vaccine Working on Primates

A new developed Ebola vaccine that comes in aerosol form and can be inhaled has been found to be effective in primates in a new study.  

The needle-free vaccine developed for Ebola was tested on rhesus macaque monkeys, and it was found to have given the primates protection from the virus. The findings are published on Monday in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

"The initial several decades of attempts to develop a vaccine against the Ebola virus were unsuccessful," Alexander Bukreyev, study author and Galveston National Laboratory researcher at the University of Texas Medical Branch, said in a report by The New York Times. "This is one of the few vaccines that works."

According to HealthDay's report, since the vaccine is needle-free and inhalable, it doesn't need to be administered by a trained health professional. This suggests that the medicine can be administered by a nonspecialist or can be self-administered.

Bukreyev added that a single-dose of the inhalable vaccine would both prevent and stop the spread of Ebola infections. That would certainly come in handy during dire events such as outbreaks and bioterrorism.

For the study, the scientists administered the aerosolized vaccine to the monkeys through a nebulizer mask. According to Yahoo, when the animals were given a deadly quantity of the engineered strain of the Ebola virus, they survived and showed no side effects.

There are other vaccines currently under clinical trials but they come in injectable forms. The website added that when the inhalable and injectable vaccines were compared and tested, it was revealed that both were effective in protecting against the virus. However, the immune response was different for both vaccines.

According to Newsweek, the inhalable vaccine increased the lymphocyte cells that are responsible for immune responses and defending the body against diseases in the lungs, nose, sinus, pharynx and larynx.

The researchers added that it was the first time to successfully use aerosolized Ebola vaccine on a viral hemorrhagic fever. However, no matter how successful a clinical trial is, it is not a guarantee that it will work on humans. In another report by the NY Times, the clinical trial for the TKM-Ebola-Guinea made by Tekmira Pharmaceuticals has been stopped because the drug did not "demonstrate an overall therapeutic benefit."

The newly developed vaccine must pass several safety tests according to Chris Cooper and Sina Bavari of the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.

The "safety of delivering vaccines by aerosol needs clear safety margin and may impact performance of this platform," they wrote in an email, according to the report by Newsweek.