Dengue Vaccine Tested In Malaysia as Death Rate Jumps

As death rate jumped more than 60 percent this year Malaysian health authorities announced on Wednesday that they were testing a dengue vaccine in a bid to combat the disease.

At present there is no treatment or vaccine for the mosquito-borne disease, which has killed 128 people this year in Malaysia alone, compared to 78 deaths during the same period a year ago.

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Malaysian health authorities said they started clinical trials involving some 300 volunteers in the middle of the year and would carry out further trials from December.

"If these studies are successful, we hope the vaccine can be made available to the Malaysian people in the next few years," health ministry director general Ismail Merican said in a statement.

"A dengue vaccine is the ultimate next step in the prevention of dengue fever," said the top health official, who described the trials as the "latest breakthrough".

About Mosquito Diseases
Mosquito-borne diseases, like malaria, filaria, dengue, etc are common in places conducive of mosquito breeding. Swamps, ponds and stagnated drainage provide optimal breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Malaysia is working with Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis, to develop the vaccine.

Nearly 43,500 dengue fever cases have been reported in Malaysia this year, and the public is being urged to take action to eradicate the Aedes aegypti mosquito -- which spreads dengue -- from homes and workplaces.

Dengue and Dengue Fever - Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment & Prevention
Dengue is a tropical disease caused by mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus. Symptoms include fever, joint & muscle ache, fatigue, nausea and skin rash.

Malaysia is also planning to conduct a controversial field trial by releasing genetically-modified mosquitoes -- the first experiment of its kind in Asia.

The virus has historically been found in tropical regions, particularly in urban and semi-urban areas, but has spread in recent years to colder and higher places and is now endemic in more than 100 countries.

Source-AFP