All about the dengue vaccine that India is likely to get soon

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co, a Japanese pharmaceutical company, has produced a vaccine against dengue called the TAK-003. Currently, the Japanese company is in discussions with the Indian pharmaceutical regulators about the requirements it would have to fulfil to make the TAK-003 available in India. Takeda aims to bring the vaccine in India as soon as it can. As of now, it awaits more clarity about manufacturing the vaccine from Indian drug regulators. 

How does the vaccine work? 
The TAK-003 is an attenuated tetravalent vaccine. It works by weakening the pathogens of dengue. The vaccinated individual develops an immune response to it up to a particular extent. This way, the effect of the disease is not as severe. 

Is this dengue vaccine effective? 
Multiple testing rounds of this vaccine have consistently proved its efficacy, demonstrating its validity and success. For the clinical trials, dengue-affected individuals were administered the vaccine. Around 83% of these participants who tried the vaccine prevented hospitalisation. Also, a 62% reduction in the severity of the disease was observed. It proved to be effective for not just adults, but also children. Thus, it can be said that it is a universal remedy, unlike most of its predecessors. Additionally, this vaccine is capable of fighting against all four strains of dengue.  

What is dengue exactly? 
Dengue is a viral infection caused by either one of the four dengue virus serotypes namely, dengue 1, 2, 3 and 4. It is a vector-borne disease spread by mosquitoes. The larvae have a tendency of breeding in mostly dirty water. These viruses are transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito.  An individual infected by dengue usually develops flu-like symptoms such as high fever, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, loss of appetite, fatigue, etc. 

Indian scenario 
One of India’s most common endemic diseases, dengue, has proved to be a menace for the country since a prolonged period of time. It is estimated by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India that this disease affects around 100,000 people annually. Dengue, along with other vector-borne diseases, are recorded at an annual all-time high during the monsoon months in India. 

Official data from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare shows that the number of dengue cases in India have observed a steady decline between 2017 and 2020. However, many in the medical field believe that these reported numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. Dengue still remains a battle which India has to fight until a vaccine gets approved. 

As of now, there are no officially approved dengue vaccines in India. There were a couple potential ones though. However, none of them was approved.