Quick Hits: Japan Begins Trials on New Ebola Vaccine

A recent MedicalXpress article discussed Japan’s human trial of a new Ebola vaccine. The treatment, which has previously been tested in monkeys, employs an inactivated form of the virus that can only replicate in artificial cells. The team behind the project at the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo hope that this will make the treatment safer than the alternatives. 

The clinical study will begin later in December, and will consist of 30 healthy adult men each receiving two doses of the vaccine, four weeks apart. The team will monitor the men to determine whether they develop side effects and have achieved immunity to Ebola.