For half a century, finding a dengue vaccine has been an urgent issue. Recently, Vietnam has approved a dengue vaccine along with 39 countries around the world, taking an important step forward in disease prevention and control.
The VNVC vaccination system has administered and received reservations for nearly 15,000 doses of dengue vaccine for children and adults since the vaccination campaign began on September 20.
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| Dengue fever vaccine is receiving much attention from the people. |
At the recent in-depth workshop on dengue fever vaccine, Ms. Bach Thi Chinh, Medical Director of VNVC Vaccination System, said that dengue fever vaccine is currently receiving much attention from the people.
Present at the in-depth seminar on dengue fever vaccine with hundreds of doctors, nurses, and VNVC medical staff, former Minister of Health, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said that dengue fever not only causes burden and pressure for patients and their families but also for the health system and human resources.
Nearly 40 years ago, Vietnam witnessed a terrible dengue fever epidemic in the Mekong Delta. At that time, disease prevention mainly relied on killing mosquitoes and larvae, there was no specific treatment, so many deaths occurred in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta. The introduction of dengue fever vaccine was an important step forward in the prevention of this dangerous disease.
For half a century, finding a dengue vaccine has been an urgent issue. Vietnam has approved a dengue vaccine along with 39 countries around the world, taking an important step forward in disease prevention.
The use of vaccines along with other preventive measures will reduce the number of cases, hospitalizations and serious complications caused by the disease in the near future. This is the most convincing evidence of the safety, effectiveness and great humanity of vaccines in general and dengue fever vaccines in particular.
From a management perspective, Associate Professor Nguyen Vu Trung, Director of the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, shared that before the vaccine was approved and brought to Vietnam to be injected into people nationwide, many measures to prevent dengue fever had been vigorously implemented by the health sector for many years, but due to the complicated developments of the epidemic, control became more difficult, causing the disease to increase.
He said that dengue fever vaccine is an active and specific preventive measure for the majority. Research results show that this is a safe vaccine and can be used for children who are sensitive and have a very high rate of dengue fever.
He hopes that as the number of people using the vaccine increases along with other measures, it is certain that in a short time, the burden caused by dengue fever on the community will be significantly reduced.
As the first unit to deploy dengue fever vaccination in Vietnam, Dr. Bach Thi Chinh, Medical Director of the VNVC Vaccination System, said that since the vaccine was deployed on September 20, nearly 200 vaccination centers nationwide of VNVC have vaccinated and reserved nearly 15,000 doses of dengue fever vaccine for children and adults.
According to Dr. Chinh, with the strength of being the leading vaccination service center system in Vietnam with nearly 200 centers, more than 10,000 doctors, nurses, medical staff, cold storage system and professional vaccine transport refrigerated vehicle system meeting GSP standards, VNVC can also organize mobile vaccination teams to schools, businesses, residential areas... with the highest safety vaccination process to promptly protect the health of children and adults before the peak dengue fever epidemic cycle that usually occurs in October every year.
Sharing about the dangers of dengue fever, Dr. Chinh said that the Dengue virus has 4 different serotypes. The first infection with any one of the serotypes is believed to create long-term immunity, but it may not last a lifetime and provides temporary protection, estimated to last from a few months to 1-2 years, against other serotypes.
A person can get dengue fever many times in their life with different types of virus, and the second infection is even more severe than the first.
Dengue fever causes dangerous complications such as hypotension, heart failure, kidney failure, hemorrhagic shock, multiple organ failure, cerebral hemorrhage, coma...
The disease is at risk of getting worse during the fever-free period from the 3rd to the 5th day of the disease, making the patient easily complacent. Those at higher risk of getting worse when having dengue fever are young children, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases, obesity, etc. For pregnant women, dengue fever can cause fetal distress, premature birth, and stillbirth.
At the workshop, Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Infectious Diseases Association, said that since 1959, there has been no specific treatment for dengue fever, while the disease is becoming more and more complicated, widespread and occurring year-round, no longer seasonal, and measures to control mosquitoes that transmit the disease are facing many difficulties due to urbanization, trade and travel.
Every year, our country has hundreds of thousands of cases of dengue fever with dozens to hundreds of deaths. WHO rates dengue fever as one of the 10 global health burdens, ranking it at level 3 (the highest level) of medical emergency.
According to Dr. Khanh, dengue fever is difficult to control because people with dengue fever may not show symptoms or have unclear symptoms.
According to research, 80% of people without symptoms can still be infected with dengue fever. Severe illness is unpredictable and can develop without warning signs.
The latest records at Children's Hospital 1 show that the number of dengue fever cases is currently higher than the same period in 2023.
In August 2024, the hospital had 130 cases of dengue fever admitted and 8 cases of dengue shock complications requiring intensive treatment. “Without a vaccine, we will only be behind dengue fever,” Dr. Khanh said.
There is currently no specific treatment for dengue fever, the focus is on early detection and treatment of symptoms. WHO calls for, in addition to raising awareness of the disease, controlling disease transmission vectors, and closely monitoring the disease, people need to be vaccinated to effectively prevent the disease.
Qdenga dengue vaccine is manufactured in Germany by Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Japan, and protects against all four serotypes of the virus that cause the disease, including DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4. This is the first dengue vaccine approved in Vietnam, with a two-dose regimen, three months apart, for children from 4 years old to adults.
The dengue vaccine has been in development for 45 years, tested on data from more than 28,000 participants. The vaccine uses the genetic backbone of the attenuated DEN-2 strain to ensure full coverage of the remaining strains, which are also the virus types that typically cause severe disease.
Currently, Takeda's dengue vaccine has been deployed in community vaccination programs in many countries with high infection and death rates such as Brazil and Argentina.
In Indonesia, dengue vaccine has been included in the provincial immunization program of three cities in two provinces with high numbers of cases.
Research and vaccination deployment show that Takeda's dengue vaccine is part of a comprehensive dengue control strategy.
The study results showed that the vaccine was safe and highly effective against all serotypes of the virus. There was no evidence of increased disease severity, no increased risk of hospitalization, and no deaths associated with the vaccine in recipients, regardless of their initial dengue infection status.
It is known that the dengue fever vaccine was researched and brought to market by the pharmaceutical company Takeda. Previously, at the Workshop: "Promoting innovation and sustainable development of the healthcare industry" organized by Dau Tu Newspaper on the morning of September 25, Mr. Dion Warren, General Director of Southeast Asia and India, Takeda said that Takeda pursues a strategy of providing advanced healthcare solutions to build a healthier future for Vietnamese people, through expanding access to drugs and strengthening cooperation with partners to work towards the common goal of improving public health.
“We have spent nearly $5 billion on R&D. Takeda has made significant advances in cancer, gastrointestinal diseases, rare diseases, plasma therapies and now vaccines,” said Dion Warren.
In May 2024, we reached a new milestone when the Vietnamese Ministry of Health approved Takeda's dengue vaccine.
This is the first dengue vaccine approved in Vietnam, adding a proactive and sustainable prevention approach to the integrated prevention strategy, in response to the growing public health threat of dengue fever in Vietnam.
Vietnam is one of the countries most affected by dengue fever. In 2022, Vietnam had nearly 370,000 cases, 150 deaths. The disease appears more rampant in the South than in other localities in Vietnam.
Increasing vaccination rates is a top priority in Takeda's infectious disease prevention strategy, especially as dengue fever is placing a heavy burden on both the health system and the national economy.
To achieve this goal, we will continue to work with health authorities, universities, research institutes, partners and public and private vaccination centres.
“Takeda has more than 40 years of efforts to solve various medical problems in countries, including Vietnam. From our perspective, the most important thing is to cooperate and dialogue to achieve common goals, creating meaningful value for the community,” said Mr. Dion Warren.
Takeda is a Japanese pharmaceutical corporation present in more than 80 countries and regions worldwide, with 2023 revenue reaching 28.2 million USD and a team of 50,000 employees.
Source: https://baodautu.vn/vac-xin-sot-xuat-huyet-dang-hot-d226002.html
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