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Collaboration needed to quell dengue spread
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Data presented this week in Puerto Rico are giving health officials hope that they “are not too far away” from a dengue vaccine, according to several health officials who discussed the findings during a press conference held this week.
Anthony S. Fauci, MD, who is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he is “reasonably optimistic” about the prospects of a dengue vaccine. He made the comments during a press conference that reviewed the meeting, which was jointly sponsored by NIAID, the CDC and the Pan American Health Organization.
There are several promising vaccine candidates in the pipeline, specifically a Sanofi-Pasteur dengue vaccine that is in phase 3 trials in Australia and elsewhere, Fauci said, adding that collaboration on this vaccine and other prevention tools will be instrumental in fighting dengue.
NIAID officials have stepped up financial commitments to dengue research in recent years, increasing funding from $30 million in 2005 to about $45 million last year, Fauci said. Funding for research into dengue prevention is key, as this virus affected about 1.5 million people in Latin America last year alone. The virus has also re-emerged in the United States, as about 69 clinical cases were reported in the Key West area last year.
“We have good surveillance to pick it up,” said Harold Margolis, MD, who is director of the CDC’s dengue branch. “What is going to be key now is getting creative with these new tools to make sure this virus doesn’t spread any further.”
Jose Luis San Martin, MD, who is the regional adviser on dengue for the Pan American Health Organization, said, “We hope that part of the result of this meeting will be the tools that will allow us to control the impact of this disease.”
Developing a vaccine for dengue is a complicated issue because there are four strains of the virus that must be incorporated.
“Even though this is one virus, it is like four different viruses, so that adds some complexity in developing an effective vaccine,” San Martin said. “The other issue is that the mosquito vector is well adapted to an urban setting, so that is an important factor to consider when you discuss controlling dengue.”
San Martin said the take-away message from the conference is that various stakeholders at the federal and local levels need to work together to address dengue at both the clinical and environmental levels. – by Colleen Zacharyczuk
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