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June 10, 2002

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Turning to Smallpox for Dengue Fever Vaccine"

New Straits Times (Malaysia) (www.nstpi.com.my) (06/09/02) P. 7; Manavalan, Theresa

Using a variant of vaccinia, the virus that controls smallpox, researchers from the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak's Institute of Health and Community Medicine (IHCM), Bavaria-Nordic Research Institute, and Venture Technologies, are working to develop a dengue fever vaccine.  The potential dengue vaccine, designed by Mahidol University and licensed to Aventis, protects against all four forms of the illness, but it is unclear whether the vaccine will offer long-term immunity.  Two more dengue vaccine projects are currently underway, with one based on the yellow fever vaccine and the other using reshuffled dengue genes to fight the illness.  Dengue fever--which is especially common in heavily populated, tropical, and subtropical regions--affects 50 million people a year.

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