Ebola vaccine shows potential for Africa

An Ebola vaccine being developed by biopharmaceutical company Soligenix in collaboration with scientists at the University of Hawaii and Hawai‘i Biotech Inc. has shown evidence of being able to be effective without refrigeration — a potentially key factor in battling the deadly disease in rural areas of Africa.

Axel Lehrer, an assistant professor with the Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology at UH’s John A. Burns School of Medicine, said recent tests at the University of Colorado have shown success in dry-stabilizing the key antigen for the Ebola vaccine, making it possible for the vaccine to be stored at room temperature or slightly warmer.

“You can almost leave it out in the sun,” he said.

Lehrer also said the vaccine can remain stable for up to three months.

The thermostable form of the vaccine might also allow full immunization with fewer shots.

None of the other Ebola vaccines under development has the ability to withstand high temperatures, Lehrer said.

Audit uncovers ‘irregularities’ in accounting

KAILUA-KONA >> Parks supervisors are overseeing cash from facilities rentals after an audit found accounting problems.

Three Department of Parks and Recreation offices maintain the books for renting out facilities to the community, bringing in $176,000 for nearly 1,300 permits last fiscal year, West Hawaii Today reported. It isn’t clear how much money never made it to the county.

“That’s part of the problem,” Legislative Auditor Bonnie Nims said. “There’s no way to know.”

The audit found instances in which workers made errors, failed to make some deposits and delayed others, and did not document overages and shortages.

“Individually, errors or irregularities may not be significant. However, when combined, they demonstrate that policies and procedures are not adequately followed, or understood, as well as a lack of monitoring by management,” the audit said. “Undetected errors may result in: financial misstatements, inaccurate or incomplete information, uninformed operational decisions and the inability to detect irregularities including theft or misappropriation.”

The department added another paper trail when it started accepting credit cards, and has also improved training and implemented new software.

“We welcomed the audit,” said James Komata, deputy director of the department. “It gave us the opportunity to improve on the situation.”

Nims said the department was cooperative during the audit.

“They were very proactive. It’s not that they didn’t care,” she said. “It’s more like they didn’t know, and now that they know, they’ve taken steps to correct it.”