This study is a vaccine-related clinical trial which will be conducted by our study team at Kenema Government Hospital (KGH)'s Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Program in collaboration with Tulane University School of Medicine. This study is funded by Merck \& Co., the developers of ERVEBO®. This investigational medicinal product (IMP) was successful in Sierra Leone through the Sierra Leone Trial to Introduce a Vaccine against Ebola (STRIVE) working with the College of Medical and Allied Health Services (COMAHS) at the University of Sierra Leone. ERVEBO® was also successfully tested in Liberia and the Republic of Guinea. These successful trials led to the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approval of ERVEBO®, as well as approval for therapeutic use in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Ghana, and Zambia.
This particular vaccination study will focus on the anamnestic response to the ERVEBO® vaccine, (full name - rVSVDG-ZEBOV-GP Ebola Virus Vaccine). The original clinical trials conducted excluded Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) survivors from participating. However, with ongoing research, there is evidence of waning immune response and even recurrent infections in EVD survivors.