GlaxoSmithKline Vaccine Against Ebola

The GlaxoSmithKline vaccine has already performed well in animal trials, providing macaque monkeys with 100% protection against Ebola for up to 10 months. But our immune system is very different from that of macaques and, to date, no vector-based vaccine has been licensed for any disease in humans. That is why scientists are proceeding with caution and testing the vaccine in different concentrations in order to ascertain the lowest dose that will elicit an immune response.

“The big question is, will the immune responses that we generate with the vaccine be strong enough?” says Professor Adrian Hill, the director of the Jenner Institute. “That’s always a question with new vaccines.”

Nick Owen of MSF, who is a guinea pig in trials of the ChAd3 vaccine for Ebola.Photograph: Public domain

It is a question to which Nick Owen, who works as an editorial and social media co-ordinator at MSF’s London office, is keen to know the answer. Earlier this month he became one of the first volunteers to receive the vaccine. He felt a bit “flu-ey” the day after the injection, but otherwise the only discomfort is giving blood once a month so that his antibody levels can be measured. (From "The Guardian")