An experimental Ebola vaccine seems to be effective at preventing infection by the virus, researchers reported last night.
The final analysis of trials of the vaccine in Guinea has concluded it was "highly protective."
Experts said this meant a vaccine would now be available if there is a resurgence of Ebola.
The vaccine, rVSV-ZEBOV, was tested in 2015 in Guinea in the last months of the Ebola outbreak in west Africa.
Researchers used a "ring" technique to identify people at risk when a case of Ebola was diagnosed, tracing those at risk and offering vaccines to half these groups of contacts immediately.
After early results suggested the vaccine was effective, all the rings were offered the vaccine.
The findings showed that among 5,837 people who received the vaccine, there were no Ebola cases ten days or more after vaccination.
Among others, there were 23 cases, according to the findings published in The Lancet.
Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, from the World Health Organisation, who oversaw the trial, said: “While these compelling results come too late for those who lost their lives during West Africa’s Ebola epidemic, they show that when the next Ebola outbreak hits, we will not be defenceless."
Dr KeÏta Sakoba, director of the National Agency for Health Security in Guinea, said: “Ebola left a devastating legacy in our country. We are proud that we have been able to contribute to developing a vaccine that will prevent other nations from enduring what we endured."
Lancet 23 December 2016 [abstract]
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