This new vaccine requires two doses administered three months apart to children and adolescents aged 6 to 16 years in areas with high disease burden and severity (Image: Minsal)
The World Health Organization announced on Wednesday (15) the validation of a new vaccine against dengue fever. This comes at a time when the number of cases and deaths is increasing significantly due to the epidemic of this disease spreading throughout Latin America. The TAK-003 vaccine, manufactured by the Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda, contains weakened versions of the four serotypes of the dengue virus, which is transmitted through the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito. This is the second dengue vaccine recommended by the World Health Organization, after the CYD-TDV vaccine from the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur. “We hope that more dengue vaccine developers will come forward for evaluation so that we can ensure they reach all communities in need,” said Rogerio Gaspar, Director of Regulation and Validation at WHO.
Two doses for children/adolescents aged 6-16 years
This new vaccine requires two doses administered three months apart in children/adolescents aged 6 to 16 years in areas with high disease burden and severity. Several Latin American countries are facing the worst dengue outbreaks in their history, including Brazil, which has already suffered more than 2,000 deaths from dengue this year. The situation in Argentina is also worrying: according to the Argentine Ministry of Health (as of April 14), a total of 119 dengue deaths have been confirmed, while the number of reported cases has reached 269,678.
Between 100 and 400 million cases of dengue fever occur worldwide
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said last year that the number of dengue cases in North and South America would increase significantly by 2024, largely due to rising global temperatures and extreme weather events. The World Health Organization has warned that dengue cases and deaths are likely to continue to rise and spread geographically across the region. There are 100 to 400 million cases of dengue fever worldwide each year, and 3.8 billion people live in dengue-endemic countries, most of them in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
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