Moving to a Dengue Preventive Treatment Through New Vaccines

Opinion statement

Dengue fever is a viral disease with no curative treatment. However, symptomatic treatment exists to alleviate the fever and provide analgesia to the multiple types of pain mainly headache, arthralgia, myalgia, and retro-ocular pain. Antiviral drugs to interfere with the process of viral replication are still under investigation. In the past, homeopathic treatment has been tried as well, with no success. In the case of severe dengue, hospitalization with strict monitoring of vital signs, parenteral liquids, and electrolytes replacement and, if needed, blood transfusion, are the most adequate courses of management. Most of the scientific work on the topic is dedicated to the development of a vaccine that may prevent the infection by any of the four serotypes of dengue, a tetravalent vaccine. Different research groups are searching for vaccine candidates among the different stages of viral development. One such group has completed a phase III trial and their vaccine has been licensed in different countries. However, more work is required to enhance this vaccine effectiveness beyond the current 60% protection. Moreover, new vaccine candidates are needed to provide safe immunization against the four dengue serotypes, whether preventing infection or reinfections.

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