Dengue vaccine results from Thailand trial expected by September
The efficacy of the first dengue fever vaccine is expected to be known by September when results of tests on thousands of Thai children will be revealed, the pharmaceutical firm Sanofi Pasteur said Thursday.
Sanofi Pasteur has been collaborating with Thailand’s Ministry ofHealth and Mahidol University in conducting dengue vaccine research and trials for the past two decades, with positive results anticipated by the third quarter of this year, Sanofi Pasteur’s programme leader Jean Lang said.
Should the field tests prove successful, the company hopes to make the vaccine available by 2015.
Some 3.6 billion of the world’s population of 7 billion are at riskof being infected by dengue, a virus that is borne by the Aedes mosquito. Although rarely fatal among adults, dengue can claim the lives of young children.
Some scientists predict that dengue may become a health threat to Europe in the near future as a result of climate change, said PratapSinghasivanon, professor of tropical medicine at Thailand’s Mahidol University.
Category: Health
