Vaccine is an important step forward in efforts to prevent dengue fever

There is currently no specific treatment for dengue fever, which can cause serious complications and is a burden for patients, their families and the healthcare system.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Vu Trung, Director of the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, spoke at the scientific conference.

On September 26 and 27, Takeda Pharmaceutical Vietnam Co., Ltd., Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City, and Vietnam Preventive Medicine Association jointly organized a series of scientific seminars "Vaccine: new weapon in preventing dengue fever" in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

The program attracted nearly 1,000 experts in the context of the dengue vaccine being officially approved by the Ministry of Health in May 2024.

At the workshop, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Vu Trung, Director of the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, said that the peak of dengue fever in Vietnam usually occurs during the rainy season, from June to November every year. However, the disease is now becoming more and more complicated, widespread and occurring year-round.

Outbreaks have gradually been recorded in the North instead of being concentrated in the South and Central regions as before.

There is currently no specific treatment for dengue fever, which can cause serious complications and is a burden for patients, their families and the health system. This situation shows that it is necessary to increase resources and supplement proactive dengue fever prevention measures.

Professor Phan Trong Lan, Director of the National Institute of Epidemiology, spoke at the conference.

According to Professor Phan Trong Lan, Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology and Chairman of the Vietnam Preventive Medicine Association, in recent years, the Government, the Ministry of Health and the community have made efforts to achieve many positive results in preventing dengue fever.

Currently, along with traditional measures such as vector control, mosquito bite prevention, and raising public awareness, the introduction of dengue vaccine is an important step forward in disease prevention efforts.

This integrated prevention strategy, if effective, would help reduce the disease burden on people and health systems, bringing many socio-economic benefits.

- Professor Phan Trong Lan commented.

Half a century ago, finding a dengue vaccine was an urgent matter.

Scientific conference attracts nearly 1,000 experts to attend

Mr. Dion Warren, General Manager for India and Southeast Asia at Takeda, said that cross-sectoral cooperation plays an important role in the fight against dengue.

Given the significant health risks posed by dengue in Vietnam, an integrated strategy using vaccines as a complementary tool to current dengue prevention measures would be a great hope.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Vietnam is among the countries suffering serious consequences from dengue fever. Dengue fever is becoming more and more serious as it is no longer cyclical and tends to expand the areas of epidemic circulation.

During the period 1980-2018, Vietnam recorded epidemic peaks every 10 years. In the past 5 years, Vietnam experienced 2 epidemic peaks in 2019 with more than 300,000 cases and in 2022 with 361,813 cases.

Dengue fever is an acute infectious disease caused by the Dengue virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes.

The disease is considered one of the top 10 threats to public health by the World Health Organization.

Dengue fever is now endemic in more than 100 countries, with an estimated 390 million cases each year. Global incidence has increased 30-fold in 50 years due to climate change, rapid urbanization, and increased mobility and movement of goods.

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Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/vaccine-la-buoc-tien-quan-trong-trong-no-luc-phong-dich-sot-xuat-huyet-post761077.html