Inhalable Ebola vaccine — the possible cure for the deadly virus has been discovered by researchers when they published their study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, showing that a breakthrough is just around the corner.
The New York Times reported that in that study, researchers concluded that Ebola vaccine was able to neutralize the virus in monkeys. The research showed that once the vaccine is inhaled, it actually activated the immune cells of the respiratory system and that one simple reaction protects the whole body of the rhesus macaques against Ebola.
Alexander Bukreyev, one of the researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch, said that earlier attempts to develop any vaccine against Ebola were unsuccessful. Burkreyev added that the vaccine they developed is "one of the few vaccines that works."
The researchers vaccinated 12 monkeys, eight of which used the inhalable Ebola vaccine while the rest were injected with it. The 12 monkeys and together with two unvaccinated were exposed to the Ebola virus. The unvaccinated monkeys died while those who were vaccinated survived and are healthy with no trace of the virus in their system, Gizmodo reported.
The new and innovative way of administering the vaccine is faster and convenient. The inhaling mechanism removes any special need to administer the vaccine and this can be useful in third world countries, where facilities are scarce, but where the virus can spread due to the environment.
The research is a joint effort by researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch located in Galveston and from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda.
The job of the researchers is not yet done as they now need to proceed to human trial and hope for favorable results. There had been incidence where a drug or a vaccine was successful in monkeys but was not effective in human trials.
