J&J is safe for two doses of Ebola vax: study

London: The US drugmaker Johnson and Johnson’s two dose vaccine with Ebola virus is safe, well tolerated and gives people over the age of one a significant immune response, according to the two new papers in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. London:

The study provides further important indications of the regimen potential to be used as an Ebola protective measure against both children and adults with Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo vaccines.

“This study represents important progress in the development of an Ebola virus disease vaccine regimen for children, and contributes to the public health preparedness and response for Ebola outbreaks,” said Dr Muhammed Afolabi, Assistant Professor at LSHTM.

“The results show that this vaccine regimen has the potential to save many young lives,” he added.

For the clinical trial, divided into two stages, the team recruited participants from September 2015 to July 2018. In stage one, which aimed to gain initial information about the vaccine regimen’s safety and immunogenicity, 43 adults aged 18 years or older received the Ad26.ZEBOV vaccine followed by the MVA-BN-Filo vaccine after 56 days.

In stage two, 400 adults and 576 children and adolescents (192 in each of the three age cohorts of 1-3, 4-11 and 12-17 years of age) were vaccinated with either the Ebola vaccine regimen (Ad26.ZEBOV followed by MVA-BN-Filo) or a single dose of a meningococcal quadrivalent conjugate vaccine followed by placebo on day 57.

Adults participating in stage one of the study were offered a booster dose of A26.ZEBOV two years after the first dose which induced a strong immune response within seven days