Ebola vaccine cAd3-EBO raises hopes in first trial

Good news has been rare when it comes to the Ebola outbreak. Now, there’s a glimmer of hope. One vaccine has yielded promising results in humans – even if it has its drawbacks. For months, bad news – even bordering on the apocalyptic – was the norm when it came to Ebola in West Africa: Exponential infection rates, agonizing deaths, and an epidemic lasting much longer than expected. For those waiting anxiously for a sign of hope, maybe – just maybe – here it is. In September, human trials began on Ebola vaccine candidates. Now, the first results have been published on the website of “The New England Journal of Medicine.” “The experimental vaccine was well tolerated and produced immune system responses in 20 out of 20 healthy adults who received it,” announces the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Bethesda, Maryland, which co-conducted the study with the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline. This...