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National Dengue Day: First vaccine trials for viral fever in India soon?
The ICMR had sought the Drugs Controller General of India’s (DCGI’s) go-ahead for phase-3 trials of the dengue vaccine in November last year.
As India observes National Dengue Day on Tuesday, experts have called for intensified efforts to fight the mosquito-borne disease. Speaking about the trials for the development of the first dengue vaccine, Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Rajiv Bahl said, “The trials are underway but they have not yet fully started because we are waiting for the company to make the GMP product which could not be made 3 months ago. The company should be ready in August. So, those phase III trials should be initiated in a few months.”
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had sought the Drugs Controller General of India’s (DCGI’s) go-ahead for phase-3 trials of the dengue vaccine in November last year.
The country has witnessed a significant increase in dengue cases over the past decade. The most recent data published in The Lancet journal notes that the country documented a total of 1,10,473 (Over 1.1 lakh) dengue cases between January and October 2022.
“One of the main challenges in developing a vaccine for dengue is that the virus has four different serotypes or variants, making it difficult to create a vaccine that can target all four equally,” Neelika Malavige, dengue expert and Head of Dengue Global Program and Scientific Affairs (India) at Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) told PTI.
“With the virus evolving faster during intense transmission, new variants can emerge and lead to massive outbreaks, causing an increase in disease severity,” she added.
"While efforts have been made to develop dengue vaccines, the development of treatments for dengue has been largely neglected, mainly due to inadequate funding as dengue primarily affects low- and middle-income countries," Malavige stated further.
(With inputs from agencies)
