As the Caribbean is reeling with the effects of the 5 000 plus chikungunya confirmed cases, researchers in the British Journal The Lancet suggest that there is a vaccination developed by scientists which has the potential to prevent or control dengue outbreaks.
The company which funded the research, Sanofi-Pasteur, has stated its intentions to apply for approval pursuant to the results of its second trial across the Caribbean and Latin America when results have been fully analyzed and interpreted.
Half of the world’s children are infected with the virus and to this extent the news is welcome at a time when various islands across the Caribbean have seen as much as triple the number of cases in one year as compared to another and also critical spreading of chickungunya. While the research did not include chikungunya, it is spread by the same mosquito. Chikungunya is hardly ever fatal whereas some dengue cases are potentially deadly.
According to reports from the Lancet, over 50 percent of children who were administered with the vaccine were protected against the disease.
According to reports, this is the largest late-stage trial of a vaccine thus far. As many as 6 000 children from five centres across Asia between the ages of two and 14 were treated with 56% having reportedly being protected from the disease.
Interestingly, the vaccine is said to have worked best in those who were previously exposed to various strains of dengue.
Good result with Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever
And the news gets better. According to the Lancet, when patients suffering from dengue were given the vaccine, 80% of those vaccinated were protected from developing the very dangerous dengue hemorrhagic fever.
There are currently no treatments to prevent dengue fever. Like chikungunya, caused by the same mosquito, dengue presents with severe headache, pain behind the eyes, joint pain and weakness and affects over 1 million people a year.
While optimistic, the researchers insist that there will need to be more research to determine efficacy overall.
