Vaccination may take up to 8 years to reduce dengue transmission

The director general of PAHO (Pan American Health Organization), Jarbas Barbosa, said this Thursday (28 March 2024) that the vaccination strategy to combat dengue fever could take up to 8 years to effectively reduce the transmission of the disease. amid epidemics like the one currently faced in the Americas.

“It is important to highlight that the vaccine that is available is a two-dose vaccine and requires 3 months between one dose and another. In other words, the vaccine is not a tool to control transmission at this time.”, he declared. According to Barbosa, the greatest tool for controlling dengue transmission continues to be the elimination of mosquito breeding sites.

In an interview with journalists, the director general of PAHO stated that the Japanese laboratory Takeda, responsible for producing the Qdenga vaccine, has limited capacity to manufacture doses. Brazil, at this moment, according to him, is the country on the continent that has the most doses available for the population in absolute terms.

Jarbas Barbosa said that, as it is a vaccine recently approved by health surveillance agencies, it is important that health systems in the Americas monitor the scenario. Data on the efficacy of the vaccine for dengue serotype 3, according to him, are limited as they were collected in a period in which there was almost no circulation of the serotype.

Barbosa also commented on the advances in the dengue vaccine developed by the Butantan Institute, which is in phase 3 of clinical studies. For the director general, the vaccine, in a single dose, can contribute positively in scenarios of accelerated transmission of the disease. “But it will probably only be available in 2025,” he stated.

With information from Agência Brasil.