The tetravalent dengue vaccine, developed by the Butantan Institute in São Paulo, Brazil, with support from FAPESP, was 80.5% effective against severe dengue cases with warning signs over a five-year period. The results of the phase 3 clinical trial were published on March 4 in Nature Medicine.

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Source: Butantan Institute

In January of this year, the Brazilian Ministry of Health began a pilot project to vaccinate 90% of the target population in the cities of Nova Lima, Maranguape, and Botucatu

Funded by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), and the Butantan Foundation, the study was conducted at 16 research centers across Brazil’s five regions. From February 2016 to July 2019, 16,235 participants between the ages of 2 and 59 were recruited. Of those, 10,259 received a single dose of the vaccine, while 5,976 received a placebo.

There were no reports of hospitalization in the vaccinated group, compared to eight cases in the placebo group.

Overall, the vaccine was 65% effective in preventing symptomatic dengue (caused by any serotype) during the five years of monitoring.

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