Brazil’s dengue shot reaches nearly 80% efficacy

The dengue vaccine developed by the Butantan Institute obtained 79.6 percent efficacy in clinical trials. According to the São Paulo–based institution, the two-year follow-up with a group of 16 thousand participants has not yet recorded any serious case of the disease among those who received the shot.

The clinical trial phase of the inoculation began in 2016, with the administration of the vaccine to 10 thousand volunteers aged 2–59. Another 6 thousand people received placebo. The incidence of symptomatic dengue among participants was assessed starting at 28 days of immunization and lasted two years.

Years of research

Butantan’s dengue vaccine makes use of technology from the US National Institutes of Health, licensed in 2009. The first phase of clinical trials was conducted in the US between 2010 and 2012, and the second part of the research was run between 2013 and 2015, in Brazil. The tests showed that the inoculation is safe and protects against all four serotypes of the virus. The study is expected to come to a close in 2024.