Immunogenicity and safety of ebolavirus vaccines in healthy adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

ABSTRACT

Background

This review aimed to systematically evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of the candidate Ebola virus vaccine (EVV).

Methods

We searched five databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effects of EVV on healthy adults. The primary outcomes were relative risk (RR) of sero-conversion or sero-response of EVV in healthy adults between the groups that received EVV and the controls.

Results

Twenty-nine RCTs (n = 23573) were included. There was a significant difference in RR of sero-conversion of EVV (RR 13.18; 95% CI 11.28–15.41; I² = 33%; P < 0.01) between the two groups. There was a significant difference in RR of adverse events (AEs) of EVV (RR 1.49; 95% CI 1.27–1.74; I² = 88%; P < 0.01), although no difference in RR of serious AE (SAE) between the two groups. Subgroup analysis showed that there was no significant difference in RR of AEs for DNAEBO, EBOV-GP, MVA, and rVSVN4CT1 vaccines, compared with controls.

Conclusions

The DNAEBO, EBOV-GP, MVA, and rVSVN4CT1 vaccines are likely to be safe and immunogenic, tending to support the vaccination against Ebola disease. These findings should provide much-needed evidence for public health policy makers to develop preventive measures based on disease prevalence features and socio-economic conditions.

KEYWORDS:

• Ebolavirus
• vaccine
• Ebola disease
• immunogenicity
• safety
• systematic review
• meta-analysis

Declaration of interests

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/14760584.2023.2296937.

Author contributions

J.T.Y., M.S.M. and C.J.Q. conceived the study. J.T.Y. and L.Z. collected the data. C.Y.W. analyzed and interpreted the data, and wrote the first draft of the paper. All authors edited and approved the final manuscript.

Acknowledgments

We thank Jianping Liu for the guidance and insightful comments on this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by a grant from Science and Technology Department of Henan Province [grant number 112102310306].