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An inhalable Ebola vaccine protected monkeys against the deadly virus, a new study shows.
Successful aerosol vaccination
Research suggests that the linings of the airways may be an important point of entry for the Ebola virus into the body. This was the first test of a inhalable Ebola vaccine, the researchers said.
"A needle-free, inhalable vaccine against Ebola presents certain advantages. Immunisation will not require trained medical personnel," study author Michelle Meyer said in a University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston news release. Meyer is a postdoctoral fellow in its pathology department.
Read: Villagers eating dog meat has caused Ebola to resurface in Liberia
She and her colleagues found that the inhalable vaccine protected rhesus macaque monkeys against severe illness and death when they were exposed to the Ebola virus.
The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
"This study demonstrates successful aerosol vaccination against a viral hemorrhagic fever for the first time," study senior author and virologist Alex Bukreyev, a professor at UTMB, said in the news release.
"A single-dose aerosol vaccine would enable both prevention and containment of Ebola infections, in a natural outbreak setting where health care infrastructure is lacking or during bioterrorism and biological warfare scenarios," he added.
The researchers will apply for approval to conduct human clinical trials of the inhalable Ebola vaccine.
Read more:
Ebola outbreak: 30 new cases a week
Experimental Ebola drug cures monkeys
How Nigeria beat the Ebola virus in three months
Image: Ebola from Shutterstock
