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As DRC grapples with Ebola, Guinea keeps up its guard

Source(s): Voice of America
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By Abdourahmane Dia

[...]

Some good also grew out of Guinea's exposure to the virus: more information. Late in the West African outbreak, almost 6,000 people in Guinea were vaccinated with an experimental therapeutic, V920. A December 2016 report in The Lancetmedical journal said the inoculations bolstered the interim finding that the vaccine "offers substantial protection."

That same vaccine, not yet licensed in any country, is now being used in the DRC's northwestern region. Pharmaceutical company Merck sent roughly 8,600 doses to Equateur province.

Dr. Sakoba Keita, who oversaw Guinea's Ebola response and directs the country's National Health Security Center, praised the vaccine.

"For us, the vaccine is very effective," he said, saying it protected 95 percent of those inoculated and "greatly helped stop the chain of transmission of the Ebola virus in Guinea. That is the reason why the vaccine is at the forefront of our response mechanisms."

[...]

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Hazards Epidemic and Pandemic
Themes Health and health facilities Disaster risk management
Country and region Democratic Republic of the Congo Guinea
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