Does Dengvaxia stops Dengue???

              Global incidence of dengue has drastically upped in the last few years. According to the reports of WHO, there occurs 390 million dengue infections per year, of which 96 million manifest clinically.  Member states in 3 WHO regions regularly report the annual number of cases. The number of cases reported increased from 2.2 million in 2010 to 3.2 million in 2015.

          In late 2015, the first dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia by Sanofi Pasteur was introduced and approved for use in individuals of 9-45 years of age. WHO recommends that countries should consider introduction of the dengue vaccine in regions where epidemiological data indicate a high burden of disease.

          Recently the vaccine for Dengue virus has been

approved for use in Singapore. It was already in use in nine other countries including, Indonesia, Thailand, The Philippines, Mexico and Brazil.

          A total of 24 clinical studies with more than 41,000 subjects were conducted by Sanofi. The 24 studies reviewed include two major clinical studies conducted in Latin America and Asia on individuals between two and 16 years old, and 22 supportive studies assessing the anti-body levels in individuals following vaccination.

          Overall the vaccine was effective in reducing dengue illness by 60 percent and reducing severe dengue illness by 84 percent.

          The vaccine was also most effective in those who already have baseline immunity due to a previous dengue infection. It was 81 per cent effective in those who had dengue previously, compared to 38 per cent in those who had not been infected before.

          However, the studies also showed that the vaccine is less effective against the DENV-1 and DENV-2 strains of Dengue.

          But, the study conducted by the researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg school of Public Health, Imperial College of London and the University of Florida found that Sanofi’s Dengvaxia could do more harm than good in certain settings. The reason they says is that Dengue is different from most infectious diseases, in that a person’s second infection is typically much more serious than the first.

         However in vaccinated children between nine and 11 years old, the studies showed a 30 per cent increase in risk of hospitalization and three times the risk of severe dengue.

          There was also “insufficient evidence” on the safety and efficiency of the vaccine in those above 45 years old.

          For the same reason, in many nations, there exists a great hesitation in adopting the vaccine. After vaccinating almost half a million school age children, Philippine health officials too halted the dengue vaccination program and proposed a review over fears that the vaccine could cause side effects. Some local doctors also advised to wait for a better drug to come in.
Parts of Asia and South America too doubts over its efficacy and potential for causing side effects. But, WHO still recommends its use in countries where the mosquito borne disease is widespread.

          Dengue Fever has already become a nightmare for people. The rate of Dengue affected people around the globe is increasing day by day. What we need now is a vaccine. A vaccine that is able to cure Dengue Fever. What is much more important is that the vaccine should earn the patient’s trust. The world is waiting for such a discovery!!!

 sarika