New Dengue Vaccine Gains Additional Authorizations

Filomeno Fortes, the Director of Portugal's Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, recently gave an interview on the importance of Takeda's QDENGA® vaccine against dengue, made available in Portugal in May 2023.

"The vaccine brings some innovation to the prevention of a disease that is considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the ten global threats to world health," commented Fortes.

Initially authorized in Indonesia in August 2022, QDENGA had been authorized as of June 9, 2023, in Argentina, Brazil, Europe, and the U.K.

In the U.S., the FDA is considering the authorization of QDENGA.

Since most dengue cases in the U.S. are travel-related, additional QDENGA authorization should reduce the incidence of this disease.

About 4 billion people live in areas with a risk of dengue.

For example, the Florida Health Department recently reported three additional travel-associated dengue cases, which increases the 2023 total to 80 patients.

In 2022, 903 travel-associated and 68 locally-acquired dengue cases were reported in Florida.

Dengue viruses are spread to people through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito, says the U.S. CDC. Dengue is often a leading cause of illness in at-risk areas.