New vaccine against Pacific scourge, dengue fever

Transcript

Health authorities in the Pacific are encouraged by news of the world's first vaccine against dengue fever being approved for use in Mexico.

French pharmaceutical company Sanofi says it has been developing the vaccine, Dengvaxia, for 20 years and it was given the green light based on results from clinical trials involving over 40,000 people.

Leilani Momoisea reports.

Sanofi says the vaccine reduced the risk of hospitalisation by 80 percent and lowered the possibility of developing the severest form of the disease by 93 percent.  Samoa earlier this year dealt with an outbreak of dengue, with close to 500 cases recorded in the space of ten weeks.  The director general for health in Samoa, Leausa Take Naseri, says the news of a dengue vaccine is encouraging.

LEAUSA DR TAKE NASERI:  I know that if it's viable and practical, we will not sit back and wait, but we would love to have that also for our people because dengue is one of the viruses that kills people.

He says the disease is currently under control due to good habits created during a clean up of the island in preparation for an international conference in September.  But he says he can't continue to bank on that success, as people's behaviours change - and a vaccine would help with some of the problems public health services are fighting.

LEAUSA DR TAKE NASERI:  We have dengue, we have chikungunya, we have now supposedly some positive cases of zika, there are so many other viruses. Now if we can get dengue out of the way, then that would be one problem out of our plate.

Dr Naseri says however, he does not yet have enough information to make an appropriate decision for Samoa regarding the vaccine.  A medical officer for communicable disease in Fiji's health ministry, Mike Kama, says Fiji has it's ups and downs with the disease, with no national outbreak declared this year, but certain divisions causing concern.  Dr Kama says Fiji has exhausted almost all means of prevention activities, and they have been waiting for a vaccine to be approved.  But he says more information is needed, like how the approval process has been undertaken, and he is yet to be advised on the vaccine by the World Health Organisation.

DR MIKE KAMA:  For Fiji at least, it may mean an addition to the armoury that's already there for dengue fever prevention and response. In general you know, if it adds a new dimension in the fundamentals of prevention this vaccine will bring, for us it's a plus. But we need to get the details also.

In early 2014 there was a Pacific-wide outbreak of dengue, which the World Health Organisation said caused health systems across the region to be strained in both resources and finances.  The director of reproductive and child health in the Solomon Islands Divi Oga Oga says they have not received any advice on dengue vaccines so he can't comment on that specifically.  But he says introducing new vaccines is one of the most cost effective public health interventions.

DR DIVI OGA OGA:  In terms of cost benefits, you invest in preventing an outbreak of a particular disease, you prevent a lot of cost down the track, downstream. Cost on management of an outbreak, cost of clinical management of those particular diseases.

Mexico has only approved the Dengvaxia vaccine for patients aged 9 to 45 who live in areas where the disease is endemic.  Sanofi says the vaccine acts best as an immune booster for patients with some previous exposure.