Philippines launches world’s first mass dengue vaccination
01-Apr-16, The Washington Post
The Philippines has launched the first public immunization program for dengue fever, seeking to administer to a million schoolchildren the world’s first licensed vaccine against a mosquito-borne disease that the World Health Organization estimates infects 390 million people a year globally.
%20South%20China%20Morning%20Post.jpg "Philippines launches worlds first mass dengue vaccination (c) South China Morning Post")
Image: South China Morning Post
Hundreds of fourth-graders at a public school in metropolitan Manila’s Marikina city were given the first of three shots of Dengvaxia. A study showed that the vaccination of 9-year-old children for five years starting in 2016 can reduce dengue cases by 24.2 percent in the Philippines.
The Philippines had the highest dengue incidence in the WHO’s Western Pacific region from 2013 to 2015, recording 200,415 cases last year, according to the Department of Health.