The world's first Dengue vaccine is now available in the Philippines!

Good news! As stated in an article from CNN below, it's the world's first vaccine for dengue available in the country! But of course, taking high precautions with mosquitoes bringing the disease is still the top prevention from this dangerous illness.

Last Thursday (February 11), the Philippines hosted the global launch of Dengvaxia, the world’s first vaccine against the deadly virus.

The Philippines is the first country where the vaccine will be made commercially available.

According to a study by the University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health, the vaccine is expected to reduce dengue cases in the country by over 24 percent in a span of five years.

The number of dengue cases in the country spiked from 120,000 in 2014 to 200,000 in 2015.

Despite the surge in dengue cases, the Department of Health (DOH) said there was no increase in the number of deaths. Dengue fatalities went down from 598 in 2015 to 465 in 2014.

The DOH estimated that some 220 Filipinos a day may be infected by the disease.

The average cost of treatment for dengue is at more than P18,000 per patient.

DOH: Vaccine has side effects

Health Secretary Janet Garin earlier said the agency would get a discounted price for the vaccine that would be used in the vaccination program starting March.

The DOH said the first recipients of the Dengvaxia are poor children in the regions highly susceptible to dengue. This year, it will give the vaccine to over a million 9-year-old public school students in the National Capital Region, Central Luzon and CALABARZON.

Health authorities said the vaccine will have side effects, including fever, headache, muscle pain, weakness, redness and swelling.

20 years in the making

It took the multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur more than 20 years to develop the vaccine with clinical trials in five Asian and five Latin American countries where dengue is endemic.

The vaccine was launched in the Philippines since it was the only country where all three phases of the clinical development were conducted.

Source: CNN Philippines (Pia Bonalos)