Geneva: According to agencies, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday the approval of a second dengue vaccine. This decision could offer protection to millions globally against the mosquito-borne illness, which has caused multiple outbreaks across the Americas this year.
The UN health agency endorsed the dengue vaccine produced by the Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda. The vaccine, known as Qdenga, is recommended for children aged 6 to 16 residing in regions with high dengue prevalence. It is administered in two doses and guards against all four types of dengue.
Takeda’s dengue vaccine had previously received approval from the European Medicines Agency in 2022. The recent WHO endorsement allows donors and UN agencies to procure the vaccine for low-income countries.
Research indicates that Takeda’s vaccine is approximately 84 percent effective in preventing hospitalization due to dengue and about 61 percent effective in reducing symptoms.
Rogerio Gaspar, WHO’s director for medicine and vaccine approvals, said it was “an important step in the expansion of global access to dengue vaccines.” He highlighted that this is the second dengue vaccine authorized by the UN agency.
In the Americas alone, there have been 6.7 million suspected cases of dengue reported, marking a 206 percent rise compared to the same period in 2023. To address this surge, Rio de Janeiro declared a public health emergency last month due to its dengue outbreak, initiating the rollout of the Takeda vaccine with the aim of immunizing at least three million individuals.
The WHO has previously attributed the dramatic increase in dengue cases to factors such as climate change and the expanding habitat of mosquitoes responsible for transmitting the disease.
Agency: The Associated Press
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