Govt plans trial of a dengue vaccine

News Desk :
The government is planning to start the trial of a potential dengue vaccine soon amid spread of the mosquito- borne disease across the country , said Prof Ahmedul Kabir, additional director general (planning and development) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) endorsed the matter in a recent meeting, says the official.

At a briefing on Sunday, Shahadat Hossain, director (management information system) at the DGHS, said the efficacy of the vaccine was being discussed. “We have been communicating with the WHO [World Health Organization] about the matter.”

Only two dengue vaccines are approved for use in different countries.

Those are — Denvaxia, manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur, and Qdenga, also known as TAK-003, manufactured by Japanese drugmaker Takeda.

Denvaxia is recommended by the WHO for individuals aged between nine and 45 with confirmed previous infection of the dengue virus.

According to the US Centre for Disease Control, Denvaxia is licensed in 20 countries.

Qdenga, on the other hand, is approved by the Indonesian authorities, the European Commission, and Brazilian regulators for use on individuals aged four and above, regardless of their baseline dengue immunity status, according to Nature Journal.

More than half a dozen other dengue vaccines are being developed or in primary phase trials in different countries.

Meanwhile, a total of four more dengue patients died while 2,694 patients were hospitalized across the country in last 14 hours till Monday morning.

Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said with the death, the number of fatalities from this mosquito-borne disease rose to 251 this year.

Among the new patients, some 1,168 people were admitted to the hospitals in Dhaka and rest of them outside it.

DGHS said some 51,832 patients were hospitalised from January 1 to July 31, this year.

Meanwhile, 42,195 dengue patients were released from hospitals. The total number of deaths in dengue was 281 last year while the total number of cases stood at 62,382.