A vaccine to prevent dengue is coming?

These days Latin American countries are facing the worst dengue epidemic. The spread of the disease is so severe that within a few weeks millions of people have become victims of starvation. Some countries have declared a state of emergency while there are fears that the disease will spread to other countries in the region. The severity of the spread of the disease can be estimated from the fact that in the last three months, 1 million people have been affected by dengue in Brazil alone. In Argentina, thousands of people are rushing to hospitals, while in Peru and Puerto Rico, Emergencies It has been announced.

Medical experts have already expressed the need for a more effective vaccine against the disease. A government medical research institute in Brazil has announced success in developing a new vaccine that provides more effective protection against the disease, but experts also say that in the current situation where millions of people contracting the disease, it is not possible to produce a vaccine in large enough quantities to effectively control the spread of the disease.

Dengue-carrying mosquitoes thrive in such densely populated urban areas with poor urban infrastructure and hot, humid climates. The fact is that due to adverse climatic changes such climates Areas are increasing. In the first three months of the year 2024, according to the data released by the various governments of Latin American countries, 3.5 million dengue patients have been confirmed, while on the contrary, dengue cases in the entire year of 2023 were confirmed last year. 45 lakh patients were reported. Moreover, more than 1000 deaths have occurred due to dengue in the first three months of this year.

The Pan American Health Organization has warned that the recent year may be the worst year ever for dengue. Experts say that dengue-affected areas are expanding, meaning many new areas have been added, so new strategies and better solutions are needed to combat the current situation.

In this difficult situation, Brazilian medical experts have also given good news, according to which medical experts have developed a dengue vaccine that can provide better protection against dengue with a single dose. Experts claim that this has been proven by testing the vaccine on humans. Currently, there are two types of dengue vaccines available in the world.

The first vaccine is very expensive and is administered in doses, while the second is administered only to people who have previously been infected with dengue. The new vaccine has been developed by the US National Institutes of Health, while the São Paulo-based Botanic Institute has been licensed to manufacture this vaccine. The important thing about this vaccine is that it contains all four strains of the virus that causes dengue in a semi-dead state.

The problem is that it is not possible to immediately supply large quantities of this vaccine on hand. The Botanic Institute already produces vaccines to protect against the disease in Brazil, and the institute has the capacity to mass-produce the vaccine, but its vaccine will be submitted to Brazil’s regulatory agency for approval in the next few months. will Thus, the mass production of the vaccine will start at the beginning of next year. This meant that the introduction of the new vaccine would have no effect on existing vaccines. However, dengue attacks occur every three to four years. Then there’s also the fact that Butanton only produces the vaccine for Brazil, if the drug on a large scale Even if it becomes available, it will not benefit other Latin American countries.

On the other hand, the multinational pharmaceutical company Merck is also developing a vaccine of this type that will be offered for sale all over the world, but the effects of this vaccine have not yet been tested. It is important to note that there is demand and need for dengue vaccine outside the US as well. The mosquitoes that spread dengue have spread the disease to countries where it did not exist. People are also suffering from this disease in Croatia, Italy and California. Areas where the severity of the disease was mild in the past are now experiencing epidemics of record severity.

Bungalow 3 lakh people fell victim to the disease in the country last year. Dengue is popularly known as typhoid fever. The reason for giving this name is because of the severe pain in the joints, but not all patients experience this pain. In three quarters of patients, there are no symptoms at all, and in those who It appears that the majority of them also complain of only a mild cold. Only 5% of patients have severe disease. A protein-rich substance from the blood of such patients, called plasma, begins to leak from the blood vessels, which can result in the death of the patient.

In severe disease, if patients receive intravenous fluids and blood, the mortality rate is reduced to 2 to 5 percent, otherwise the mortality rate increases to 15 percent. In Brazil, the recent dengue virus is affecting more children than ever. Children under 5 years of age have the highest number of deaths followed by children aged 5 to 9 years. The largest number of confirmed patients are children aged 10 to 14 years.

As Brazil’s hospitals and medical centers began to overflow with dengue patients, the Brazilian government bought up all stocks of the Japanese-made dengue vaccine from around the world. Medical workers and nurses are administering the vaccine to children between the ages of 6 and 16, but the vaccine can only meet the needs of 33 million people, compared to Brazil’s total population of 220 million.

This meant that Brazil would only be able to protect a few hundred thousand children from the disease. It will not be possible to provide protection to the entire country.

Qdenga’s vaccine made in Japan is very expensive in the market. In Europe, it costs 115 dollars per serving, while in Indonesia it costs 40 dollars. Because Brazil bought the vaccine in large quantities, it received the vaccine at $19 per dose Is. At present, the world is in a race to develop a dengue vaccine, so the Japanese vaccine manufacturing company, Matakid, has announced this Indian pharmaceutical company Biological E has recently issued a license to manufacture 50 million doses annually. But here too, it will take a long time to complete all the stages and it will be possible to start its large-scale preparation somewhere in 2030.

Brazil has to spend a billion dollars every year to deal with dengue, apart from the human suffering. The problem is that there are four types of dengue virus. The problem becomes very dangerous when the patient gets a second infection and that too due to a different type of virus. The Japanese vaccine protects against all four types of virus, while Botitan has the same quality. Circumstances indicate that millions of people worldwide will need an effective vaccine against dengue in the near future and there is not much time left to achieve this goal.