It is encouraging that JNJ has a candidate, but the fact that it is a two dose regimen. . . makes compliance / logistics a difficult problem, since so many of the "contacts of contacts" are transitory -- workers who commute long distances (to the mines, for example). . . and may live for long periods of time, away from where the outbreak was (and the vaccine stock is administered).
So -- while there is cause for hope, given how far up the curve we are on a Sudan version of an mRNA based vaccine for Uganda. . . this remains a fraught situation. Here's the latest from IDSA, quoting WHO, with now 23 confirmed deaths in Mubende District:
. . .As of 25 September 2022, a cumulative number of 18 confirmed and 18 probable cases have been reported from Mubende, Kyegegwa and Kassanda districts, including 23 deaths, of which five were among confirmed cases (CFR among confirmed cases 28%). This is the first Ebola disease outbreak caused by Sudan virus (SUDV) in Uganda since 2012. . . .
It should be anticipated that there will be more cases and deaths reported in the coming days, including beyond the initial outbreak area in Mubende District. If cases are found in the capital city of Kampala, not far from the international airport in Entebbe, then there is risk of international spread beyond the six regional nations that the World Health Organization specified in an initial focus on in its press conference last week. . . .
This may yet require a highly-focused push, among Merck and JNJ as partners, to design and test a new interior, for the old "container" -- employed in the Zaire (highly effective) vaccine stock, used in DRC, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. We shall see.
But keeping a good thought for the at-risk miners (and all the other workers, who travel) around Mubende District and beyond. . . is where my head is at, this morning.
नमस्ते
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