Approved by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) last Thursday (2/3), the Qdenga vaccine promises to be an important instrument to control dengue in Brazil. The disease is endemic in the country and, each year, during periods of rain, cases explode in metropolitan regions.
The vaccine was developed by Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda using serotype 2 of the live and attenuated virus, but it works against all four types of the disease. Immunizer is recommended for people between 4 and 60 years old, regardless of having had previous exposure to the virus. The vaccine is administered subcutaneously at a dosage of 0.5 ml in a regimen of two doses, with an interval of three months between them.
“The approval of a safe and effective vaccine that does not require pre-vaccination blood tests is important to help reduce potentially critical barriers to vaccine access and administration on a large scale for the Brazilian population. We believe that immunization, together with vector control methods, has the potential to become an important pillar of the National Program to Combat Dengue, benefiting the exposed population eligible for vaccination and helping to reduce its burden on the health system”, said Vivian Kiran Lee, director of Takeda in Brazil.
effectiveness and safety
Tests to confirm the efficacy and safety of the vaccine were carried out on 28,000 children and adults, and included monitoring the volunteers’ clinical data for four and a half years.
The study showed that the vaccine was able to prevent symptomatic dengue in 80.2% of cases in the first year after vaccination. In addition, it also managed to avoid hospitalizations in 90.4% of cases in the first 18 months after vaccination.
According to the pharmacist, the formula is generally well tolerated, with no evidence of an increased incidence of severe disease in seronegative patients, and no important safety risks identified.
Incorporation into the SUS
The Ministry of Health announced, this Friday (3/3), that it will analyze the incorporation of the vaccine against dengue in the Unified Health System (SUS).
The folder clarified that “the inclusion of the vaccine to control dengue in the SUS is a priority”. The Health and Environment Surveillance Secretariat (SVSA) will request that the incorporation be analyzed by the National Commission for the Incorporation of Technologies in the Unified Health System (Conitec).
Previously, the Dengvaxia vaccine had also been approved by the agency, but for application only in people who had already been infected with the virus.
Dengue
In 2022, Brazil recorded a record number of deaths caused by dengue. There were 1,016 deaths from the disease, according to the epidemiological bulletin of the Secretariat for Health and Environment Surveillance in January. Another 109 cases were under investigation.
Among the states, São Paulo recorded the highest number of victims: 282. Then came Goiás (162), Paraná (109), Santa Catarina (88) and Rio Grande do Sul (66). In all, there were 1,450,270 probable cases, of which 1,473 were serious and 18,145 had alarm signals.
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