Dengue Vaccine Trial Results Show Promise, with Caveats

TAK-003 appears to avoid the safety issues seen with an existing vaccine, but experts say a longer evaluation is needed.

Written byShawna Williams

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In a large trial, a dengue immunization developed by Takeda Vaccines reduced the number of dengue by more than 80 percent relative to a control group, and cut the number of hospitalizations due to the disease by more than 95 percent, the company reported Wednesday (November 6) in The New England Journal of Medicine. But experts say that results from a longer follow-up are needed before drawing conclusions about the vaccine.

A previously tested dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, turned out to increase the severity of later disease in children who had never been infected with dengue prior to receiving the jab. Many researchers think that’s because there are not one, but four, closely related dengue viruses, and developing antibodies to one of those viruses makes people more vulnerable to subsequent infection by a different dengue virus. In the case of Dengvaxia, “The vaccine was acting as a ...

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Meet the Author

Shawna Williams
Shawna was an editor at The Scientist from 2017 through 2022. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Colorado College and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Previously, she worked as a freelance editor and writer, and in the communications offices of several academic research institutions. As news director, Shawna assigned and edited news, opinion, and in-depth feature articles for the website on all aspects of the life sciences. She is based in central Washington State, and is a member of the Northwest Science Writers Association and the National Association of Science Writers.
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