Dengue vaccine results from Thailand trial expected by September
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The efficacy of the first dengue fever vaccine isexpected to be known by September when results of tests on thousandsof Thai children will be revealed, the pharmaceutical firm SanofiPasteur said Thursday.
Sanofi Pasteur has been collaborating with Thailand's Ministry ofHealth and Mahidol University in conducting dengue vaccine researchand trials for the past two decades, with positive resultsanticipated by the third quarter of this year, Sanofi Pasteur'sprogramme leader Jean Lang said.
Should the field tests prove successful, the company hopes to makethe vaccine available by 2015.
Some 3.6 billion of the world's 7 billion population are at riskof being infected by dengue, a virus that is borne by the Aedesmosquito. Although rarely fatal among adults, dengue can claim thelives of young children.
Some scientists predict that dengue may become a health threat toEurope in the near future as a result of climate change, said PratapSinghasivanon, professor of tropical medicine at Thailand's Mahidol University.
