Dengue fever epidemic peak, vaccine to be deployed soon

Number of dengue fever cases increased rapidly

According to the Ministry of Health , in just one week, the country recorded more than 3,000 cases of dengue fever. Accumulated from the beginning of the year, the country recorded 52,957 cases, down from the same period last year.

In some localities, the number of dengue fever cases has increased sharply. For example, Quang Binh province, as of August 21, the whole province had 906 cases of dengue fever. The number of recorded cases of dengue fever increased 4.1 times compared to the same period in 2023. The first death from this disease was a child patient VAH (born in 2023) in Quang Trach.

The Hanoi Center for Disease Control (CDC) said that in 2024, the city recorded 2,050 cases of dengue fever and 0 deaths. The Hanoi CDC said that the current hot and rainy weather is favorable for the development of disease-transmitting mosquitoes; monitoring results at some outbreaks still recorded insect indexes exceeding the risk threshold, predicting that the number of cases will continue to increase in the coming time.

Since the beginning of 2024, Hai Phong city has had more than 10,000 cases of dengue fever, with Le Chan district continuing to be the hot spot with the highest number of cases. Notably, many households are still negligent, subjective and do not cooperate with the working group in disease prevention.

Dengue vaccine coming soon

The Drug Administration of Vietnam, Ministry of Health has licensed the circulation and use of the dengue fever vaccine produced by Takeda. This is the first dengue fever vaccine approved in Vietnam to date, with indications for subjects aged 4 years and older, regardless of whether or not they have ever had the disease, meaning there is no need for testing before vaccination.

It is expected that the dengue vaccine will be available at some vaccination centers nationwide starting from September 2024.

Qdenga dengue vaccine produced by Takeda Pharmaceuticals is more than 80% effective in protecting against all four dengue virus serotypes, for children aged 4 years and older. The vaccination schedule is 2 doses, 3 months apart.

The dengue vaccine approved by Vietnam has also been licensed in more than 30 countries, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia...

The vaccine has also been approved and used for national immunization programs in Brazil and Argentina.

According to WHO, the subjects that can be vaccinated against dengue fever are children and adults depending on the epidemiological situation and disease burden in each country regarding the situation of severe dengue fever in specific population groups as well as data on the safety and effectiveness of dengue fever vaccines.

According to Resolution 104/NQ-CP of the Government, 4 important vaccines will be included in the Expanded Immunization Program in the period of 2021-2030: Rotavirus vaccine, pneumococcal vaccine, cervical cancer vaccine and seasonal flu vaccine.

Currently, the Expanded Immunization Program provides 10 free vaccines to prevent dangerous infectious diseases. The addition of 4 new vaccines will help increase the vaccination rate and protect the health of people, especially children and women.

However, dengue vaccine is not included in this program.

Source: https://laodong.vn/suc-khoe/cao-diem-dich-sot-xuat-huyet-vaccine-sap-trien-khai-1382676.ldo