Now Reading: India’s first dengue vaccine QDENGA expected by early 2025
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India’s first dengue vaccine QDENGA expected by early 2025
India may get its first dengue vaccine within the first half of 2025. Japanese drugmaker Takeda's QDENGA has received marketing authorisation from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). Takeda has partnered…
India may get its first dengue vaccine within the first half of 2025. Japanese drugmaker Takeda's QDENGA has received marketing authorisation from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). Takeda has partnered with Dr Reddy's Laboratories to promote and distribute the vaccine in India.
The vaccine is approved for people aged 4 to 60 years, including those who have already had dengue. It is given in two doses three months apart and is effective against all four dengue serotypes. Epidemiologist Dr Jugal Kishore said the vaccine will offer significant protection, though mosquito prevention remains essential.
Dengue is a viral disease spread by Aedes mosquitoes, and cases in India have risen sharply over the past two decades, with some fatalities each year. The vaccine is expected to reduce severe dengue symptoms and the risk of death.
Indian Opinion Analysis
India records over 2 lakh dengue cases most years, with the 2022 season exceeding 2.3 lakh cases, making it one of the worst in a decade, as per National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control data. The disease has four circulating serotypes, and sequential infections raise the risk of severe dengue, which is why an earlier vaccine, Sanofi's Dengvaxia, was restricted in several countries after it was found to increase hospitalisation risk in seronegative individuals. QDENGA, using a live-attenuated tetravalent technology, was designed to work regardless of prior exposure, which is the basis for its broad age clearance in India. The CDSCO approval is for marketing authorisation, not emergency use, final commercial launch now depends on Dr Reddy's completing distribution logistics, pricing and procurement by state health departments.
Source: aajtak.in
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
