Ebola now curable after trials of drugs in DRC, say scientists

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. There are 2 significant vaccines, 1 being used in DRC, but you can't always persuade people

A debate is raging over proposals that a second vaccine be introduced to fight Ebola in Democratic Republic of Congo, currently in the grip of its worst outbreak.

The DR Congo Health Minister, Dr Oly Ilunga, who resigned after being stripped of management of the country's Ebola response, said the current vaccine is the only one that has been proven to be effective, and an opposition MP said the new vaccine is untested, and fears people in the country will be used as guinea pigs.
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World Health Organization (WHO) data shows the Merck vaccine has a 97.5% efficacy rate for those who are immunised, compared to those who are not.
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So, we're in a similar place with the new vaccine as we were in 2015 with the current one - there's substantial evidence that it's safe and that it could be effective, but it hasn't been tested in an outbreak, and hasn't been licensed.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-49164066

The problem is the rate the vaccines can be produced at - as the article says, there are 10 million people in the area, half a million doses of the more-widely tested vaccine, and a million and a half of the newer one.

And there's been mistrust of the vaccination process by the population. But when someone's got ill, they're willing to take pretty much any treatment, which is the advantage of this new development.