Last year
in Spain, after the case of Teresa Romero in 2014 and the use, in that time, of
an experimental vaccine combining the antibodies extracted from a Spanish survivor
of the disease, Paciencia Melgar, who caught the disease while helping in a NGO
in Africa, and an antiviral called favipiravir; the development of vaccines
against the Ebola took a lot of importance in the medical investigation of
Spain. The latest news date from 4 months ago, in which the hospital Carlos III
in Madrid took and are still part of an experimental vaccine investigation,
called the VSV-ZEBOV (La Nueva España, 2016)
This
vaccine was produced initially in collaboration with Germany and Canada, and
works with antibodies of animals which were supplied with a dose of the virus,
and the objective is to make the virus detectable for the body to neutralize it
completely. Like this the virus would not be able to supply the protein harmful
for our body. The objective of the researches that are being done is to test
their effectiveness in humans (is not very common to produce the antibodies
from animals instead from human cells) and what would be their secondary
effects. (Prats, J. 2014)
Although it
has been speculated that that, for now, it efficiency has been of nearly a
100%, there has been, especially from the clinical team of the hospital Carlos
III, regarding the problem of poor security measurements used to handle the
disease. They claim that to treat this kind of extreme contagious disease, the
level of security on their equipment should be of Level 4, while they are only
permitted to use Level 2 suits. (EL PAÍS, 2014)
The difference,
as it is shown with the image, is quite important. While the Level 4 has their
own autonomous respirator and plastic, impermeable and airtight suits to avoid
any possible contact with the disease at any time, the Level 2 suits is only
supplied with a mask which could filter in the worst scenario the virus and one
layer only suits which can be insufficient to stop the virus to make contact
with their bodies. (EL PAÍS, 2014)
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
-
La
Nueva España, (2016). La vacuna experimental del ébola se probará en
España. Retrieved the 18th of February 2016, from http://www.lne.es/vida-y-estilo/salud/2015/08/05/vacuna-experimental-ebola-probara-espana/1796394.html
-
Prats, J. (2014). ¿En qué consiste el
tratamiento experimental contra el ébola? El País (Edición España). Retrieved the 18th of
February 2016, from http://sociedad.elpais.com/sociedad/2014/08/07/actualidad/1407408112_524579.html
-
EL PAÍS, (2014). El ébola, en dos minutos. Retrieved 18 February 2016, from http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2014/10/08/actualidad/1412790640_746525.html?id_externo_promo=microseo
