In a ground-breaking achievement, this year, scientists have announced the development of a candidate vaccine against Lassa fever, a deadly viral disease that has ravaged West Africa for decades.
During the first Phase 2 clinical trial for any Lassa vaccine candidate, participants got vaccinated at the HJF Medical Research, Abuja, Nigeria, to accelerate the development of vaccines against the disease.
The candidate vaccine was developed by IAVI, with partners such as Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI), the HJF Medical Research International, and the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP).
According to the Africa Health Report findings, AVI licensed the technology from the Public Health Agency of Canada for the development of the vaccine.
The current trial in Nigeria aims to evaluate the vaccine candidate’s safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity at two different dosage levels in adults, including in people living with HIV, as well as in adolescents and children two years of age and under.
About 612 participants will be enrolled and monitored for six months after vaccination, with a subset of participants monitored for an additional two years for extended safety and immunogenicity.
Since doctors first identified Lassa fever in 1969, when four missionary nurses died from the viral haemorrhagic illness in the town of Lassa, north eastern Nigeria, outbreaks have taken place frequently, with 27 states recording at least one confirmed case in 2024.
The disease course is painful: general weakness and fever give way in a few days to headaches, sore throats, muscle pains, chest pains, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, coughs and abdominal pains. In severe cases, facial swelling, fluid in the lung cavity, bleeding from every orifice and low blood pressure may precede shock, seizures, coma and finally, death.
