The Ebola vaccine, officially known as rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP, generates long-lasting immunity against the virus. In a study carried out in the Democratic Republic of Congo, immunized people continued to present neutralizing antibodies for a long period, which reinforces the importance of the immunizer in endemic regions.
Published in scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)the study on the duration of antibodies produced by the Ebola vaccine was developed by researchers at the University of California (UCLA), in the United States.
Between the 2018 and 2020 outbreaks, 300,000 doses of the immunizer were applied in Congo, but until now, there was little data on the production and duration of neutralizing antibodies. According to the research authors, 95.6% of immunized people still had antibodies six months after receiving a dose of Ebola vaccine.
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Understanding the Ebola Challenge
It is worth explaining that Ebola is one of the deadliest viral diseases in the world. In 1976, the virus was first identified in an outbreak that occurred near the Ebola River in Congo. To date, 12 outbreaks have been tracked in the region, which is considered endemic for the disease.
To prevent the disease and stem the tide of new outbreaks, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) authorized the use of the immunizer in 2019. Since then, hundreds of thousands of individuals across the country and from Sub-Saharan Africa have already received doses of the formula.
Study on vaccination
In the study, UCLA scientists investigated post-vaccination antibody concentration against Ebola in Congo. In total, 608 vaccinated individuals who donated blood samples at three different times participated:
- Vaccination day;
- 21 days after immunization;
- 6 months after vaccination.
The research found that 21 days after vaccination, 87.2% of study participants had an Ebola antibody response. Six months after immunization, 95.6% of the volunteers developed and preserved antibodies against the disease.
Interestingly, “being female and of young age was predictive of a title [concentração] antibody levels after vaccination,” the study authors explain.
