The World’s First Dengue Vaccine Could Be Available in Southeast Asia Next Year

A dengue vaccine being tested in five Southeast Asian countries has yielded encouraging results, prompting governments and researchers in the region to announce that the world’s first dengue vaccine could be available next year.

The vaccine was tested on 10,275 children (2 to 14 years old) in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines with an overall efficacy of 56.5 percent. After three doses, the vaccine reportedly reduced the possibility of a child developing dengue hemorrhagic fever by 88.5 percent. There was also a 67 percent reduction in the risk of hospitalization due to dengue.

Dengue is a tropical virus carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito with no known cure. According to the World Health Organization, about 40 percent of the world’s population is at risk from dengue. Up to 100 million dengue infections are reported each year; about 75 percent of the cases are found in the Asia Pacific, especially in Southeast Asia.

Read more: globalvoicesonline.org – Written by Mong Palatino