Can a vaccine slow dengue in Brazil?
Last year in Brazil, our health regulatory agency approved the Qdenga vaccine for dengue fever. The news excited me — dengue is a painful, common mosquito-borne illness that has no specific treatment and in severe cases can even be fatal. It’s found in tropical and subtropical climates like Brazil, where cases are currently raging. But making a vaccine has been difficult. The previous vaccine available here, Dengvaxia, is only available to people who have already had a dengue infection. That group didn’t include me.
I took my first dose of Qdenga, which is made by Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceuticals, in July. I returned in November for a booster — you need two doses to complete the immunization. I was lucky to get it early. Takeda is currently unable to manufacture enough doses to immunize most of Brazil’s population of more than 200 million people.