FREE STOCK PHOTOS, CDC/PROF FRANK HADLEY COLLINSMexico has approved the world’s first dengue virus vaccine. Sanofi’s Dengvaxia will be available to children over nine and adults 45 and under.
“We are making dengue a preventable disease, which makes us incredibly proud,” Olivier Charmeil, the head of vaccines at Sanofi, told Bloomberg Business.
According to the World Health Organization, 2.35 million people in the Americas contracted the mosquito-borne illness in 2013. Dengue can cause high fever, muscle pains, vomiting, and, in some cases, death.
Sanofi spent two decades and $1.6 billion on the development of Dengvaxia. According to BBC News, about 40,000 people in Mexico will initially receive the shot. “With this decision, Mexico moves ahead of all other countries, including France, to tackle the spread of this virus,” the country’s health ministry in a statement.
Results of a clinical trial among children found the vaccine is about 60 percent effective at warding off dengue ...
