As Ebola epidemic begins to slow, trials of drugs and vaccines speed up.
As Ebola epidemic begins to slow, trials of drugs and vaccines speed up.
复制标题
随着埃博拉疫情开始放缓，药物和疫苗的试验加速。
DOI：
10.1001/jama.2015.0942
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发表时间：
2015
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
B. Kuehn
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
B. Kuehn
As local and international public health officials work to end the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, efforts to develop therapies and vaccines against the virus are ramping up. In late January, officials from theWorld HealthOrganization (WHO)announcedthat the Ebola epidemic had slowed. The WHO noted that for the first time since June 29, 2014, there were fewer than 100 new confirmed cases in the 3 hardest hit countries, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone (http://bit .ly/1LimWSP). “Thingsare currently trending inagood direction, suggesting growing control,” said Inger Damon, MD, PhD, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Ebola Response Team Incident Commander. “But there is still considerablework to be done.” International responseefforts are shifting from reducing thenumberof new infections to trying to completely eliminate new infections. To do this, they are focusing on thoroughcontact tracingandsurveillanceof potentially exposed individuals for the 21day period during which symptoms may emerge. “Whenwedothatefficiently, it allowsus to rapidly identify new cases and break the chain of transmission,” Damon said. Damon and other experts are quick to caution that ongoing vigilance is necessary topreventresurgence.About200CDCstaffers remain in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, providing technical advice on infection control, health communications, exit screening for travelers, and coordination of surveillance and contact tracing. “A single newcase is enough to reignite an outbreak,” said Brice de le Vingne, Medecins Sans Frontieres’ (MSF’s) director of operations in a statement on the organization’swebsite (http://bit.ly/15KGdfr). “Until everyonewhohascome intocontactwith Ebola has been identified, we cannot rest easy.”
