After the Mexico and the Philippines, it’s Brazil’s turn to take the plunge. The South American state has decided to authorize the vaccine against Dengue Dengvaxia® on its territory developed by the French laboratory Sanofi Pasteur. “The global introduction of the first dengue vaccine continues to progress with this third registration in an endemic country. With 1.4 million cases of dengue reported this year, Brazil is acquiring a new key instrument in the prevention of this disease“welcomed the laboratory in a press release.
Decrease mortality and morbidity in Brazil
The vaccine will be licensed to prevent disease in people aged 9 to 45 who live in endemic areas. “This new registration of Dengvaxia® by ANVISA [Agence Nationale de Vigilance Sanitaire brésilienne], a health regulatory authority recognized and certified by the World Health Organization (WHO) is an important milestone for Sanofi pasteur. Dengvaxia® has the potential to significantly reduce the burden of dengue fever and help Brazil meet WHO disease reduction targets by 2020“rejoiced Guillaume Leroy, Vice-President Dengue Vaccine at Sanofi Pasteur. WHO has indeed set the goal of reducing dengue mortality by 50% and its morbidity by 25%, that is to say the number of people infected with this disease in a given population, by 2020.
Prevent 93% of severe dengue fever cases
To develop this preventive vaccine, the laboratory carried out clinical trials on 40,000 volunteers. 29,000 of them received the vaccine. These tests showed that the vaccine protected two thirds of people vaccinated against the four serotypes of the dengue virus. In addition, Dengvaxia® would prevent 80% of hospitalizations and 93% of cases of severe dengue. Dengue is an infectious disease transmitted by the tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus. It manifests as a high fever, headache, nausea, joint and muscle pain, and a rash. Severe dengue fever, which carries a risk of death, is particularly dangerous for children and adolescents.
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