In many places around the world, the leading cause of illness is the mosquito borne viral disease dengue, caused by the dengue virus. In past decades, its frequent outbreaks in many countries triggered tremendous investments and research efforts in the international community to develop vaccines against dengue.
Dengvaxia, which is the first and only vaccine that was approved for mass vaccination, resulted in disastrous outcomes in the Philippines. Yet, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still approved Dengvaxia for children aged 9 to 16. Why? Did we learn any lessons from history?
What Is Dengue?
Dengue is a vector-borne disease caused by dengue viruses and predominantly transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti or Aedes Albopictus mosquitoes. Dengue viruses belong to the family flavivirus, which are single-stranded RNA viruses that include the West Nile virus, yellow fever virus, Zika virus, etc….