Ebola: Side Effects Halt Vaccine Trial: Presstv

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Details: Health

A clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine in Switzerland has been suspended temporarily over unexpected side effects. The University Hospital of Geneva announced the suspension on Thursday after several patients complained of joint pains. “They are all fine and being monitored regularly by the medical team leading the study,” it said in a statement. The trials are due to resume on January 5, 2015, on up to 15 volunteers, after checks to make sure that the joint pain symptoms in hands and feet are “benign and temporary.”

The human safety trials started on November 10 in the Swiss city of Geneva and 59 volunteers were vaccinated. On December 2, the Geneva researchers said the first people vaccinated with the shot had reported no serious side effects, except a few had mild fever. However, on Thursday, the team said four patients had experienced joint pains in the second week that had lasted a few days. “The Geneva team has decided to allow time to understand what is happening. This precaution of momentarily suspending the trial is usual and classic in all clinical trials,” the team said.

Meanwhile, Marie-Paule Kieny, vaccine expert with the World Health Organization, said the delay to the trial would allow time to see how extensive the problems are. The vaccine is manufactured by Canadian government laboratories and has been licensed by US companies, Merck and NewLink.