50 years ago, scientists tried to cope with Lass’s deadly fever and started developing a vaccine. And only today they began to test it in public.
In January 1969, an unknown virus was first isolated from the serum of two nurses who died … An infection called Lassa fever affects almost all organs of the body. To date, doctors suspect that the disease was transmitted from an animal, but from which it is not known. It is believed that patients can only be infected with this infection by contact.
Named after a Nigerian village where cases were first recorded, the Lassa virus causes hemorrhagic fever and kills about 5,000 of the hundreds of thousands of people infected annually in West Africa. The virus spread by the rat Mastomys natalensis can be transmitted through human body fluids.
The World Health Organization considers vaccine development a priority. Of the nearly 30 vaccines being developed, only one has been tested in humans. One clinical trial of the safety and efficacy of this vaccine began in the United States in May 2019, and another trial has been scheduled for this month for Liberia, Nigeria and Ghana.
This is a vivid example of how long it may take to develop a vaccine, for example, from the same coronavirus.
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