patients under treatment at the Vietnam – Cuba Friendship Hospital in Hanoi (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam will be one of the countries joining in the trial
injection of a dengue fever vaccine of , said Prof. Dr Nguyen Van Kinh,
Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Medical Association.
He revealed
the information on the sidelines of a medical research and application conference
held on October 12.
According
to the (WHO), dengue fever is among the top 10 threats
to global health as 40% of the world’s population reside in the areas at risk
of dengue infection. It is one of the fastest spreading mosquito-borne diseases
and popular in tropical regions. The disease leads to about 20,000 deaths
worldwide each year.
Dengue fever is caused by four dengue virus types, namely DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4, of
which DEN-1 and DEN-2 account for 90% of cases. A person infected with a virus
type can gain lifelong immunity to that type, but is still at risk of
contracting others. Particularly, repeat infections are highly dangerous since
the disease situation is often more severe from the first.
Since the start of 2023, Vietnam has
recorded more than 90,000 dengue fever cases, including 26 deaths, said the
Ministry of Health.
Some countries used to test and license
some s, but the vaccines’ efficacy has yet to meet expectations,
especially when it comes to DEN-2, Kinh said.
Recently, Japan has developed a new
vaccine which initially showed efficacy for all the four virus types. The single-dose
vaccine can be used for both adults and children.
However, he noted, trials
are necessary to have thorough assessment of the vaccine before it is used on a
large scale./.
Source: VietnamPlus
