Dengue vaccine: local decisions, global consequences.
As new vaccines against diseases that are prevalent in low- and middle-income countries gradually become available, national health authorities are presented with new regulatory and policy challenges. The use of CYD-TDV - a chimeric tetravalent, live-attenuated dengue vaccine - was recently approved in five countries. Although promising for public health, this vaccine has only partial and heterogeneous efficacy and may have substantial adverse effects. In trials, children who were aged 2-5 years when first given CYD-TDV were seven times more likely to be hospitalized for dengue, in the third year post-vaccination, than their counterparts in the control group. As it has not been clarified whether this adverse effect is only a function of age or is determined by dengue serostatus, doubts have been cast over the long-term safety of this vaccine in seronegative individuals of any age. Any deployment of the vaccine, which should be very cautious and only considered after a rigorous evaluation of the vaccine's risk-benefit ratio in explicit national and subnational scenarios, needs to be followed by a long-term assessment of the vaccine's effects. Furthermore, any implementation of dengue vaccines must not weaken the political and financial support of preventive measures that can simultaneously limit the impacts of dengue and several other mosquito-borne pathogens.
National Institute of Public Health, Avenida Universidad 655, Santa María Ahuacatitlán, Cuernavaca, 62100, Mexico .
Hugo
H
López-Gatell
National Institute of Public Health, Avenida Universidad 655, Santa María Ahuacatitlán, Cuernavaca, 62100, Mexico .
Celia M
CM
Alpuche-Aranda
Division of Experimental Medicine, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico .
José I
JI
Santos-Preciado
National Institute of Public Health, Avenida Universidad 655, Santa María Ahuacatitlán, Cuernavaca, 62100, Mexico .
Mauricio
M
Hernández-Ávila
D002675:Child, Preschool; D003715:Dengue / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003716:Dengue Virus / Q000187:drug effects; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012449:Safety; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014765:Viral Vaccines
D014765:Viral Vaccines