A nurse prepares a dose of the TAK-003 dengue vaccine at a hospital in Paraguay. The approval of a single-dose dengue vaccine makes it easier for people to get vaccinated, compared to the current two-dose regime. — AFP
Brazilian authorities approved the world’s first single-dose dengue vaccine on Nov 26 (2025), which they hailed as a “historic” achievement as cases of the mosquito-borne disease soar globally due to rising temperatures.
Dengue, known for intense flu-like symptoms, crushing fatigue and body aches, reached record global levels in 2024 and researchers have attributed its spread to climate change.
Brazil’s health regulatory agency Anvisa authorised the use of Butantan-DV, developed by the Butantan Institute in São Paulo, for people aged 12 to 59.
Currently, the only dengue vaccine available worldwide is TAK-003, which requires two doses administered three months apart, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
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The single dose, developed after eight years of trials across Brazil, will allow for faster and simpler vaccination campaigns.
“This is a historic achievement for science and health in Brazil,” the institute’s director Esper Kallas told a press conference in Sao Paulo.
“A disease that has plagued us for decades can now be fought with a very powerful weapon,” he added.
The new vaccine showed 91.6% efficacy against severe dengue during the clinical trials that involved more than 16,000 volunteers.
Dengue’s unpleasant symptoms have earned it the nickname “breakbone fever”.
It can provoke haemorrhagic fever in severe cases, and death.
It is transmitted by infected female Aedes mosquitoes, which have expanded beyond their usual areas, leading to dengue cases in Europe or parts of the United States where they were not typically found.
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Globally, the WHO reported more than 14.6 million cases and almost 12,000 deaths in 2024 – the highest number ever recorded.
Half of these deaths took place in Brazil.
Researchers at Stanford University in the US published a study in 2024, estimating that global warming was responsible for 19% of dengue cases that year.
Brazil has reached an agreement with the Chinese company WuXi Biologics to deliver approximately 30 million doses of the vaccine in the second half of 2026, Brazilian Health Minister Alexandre Padilha told the press conference. – AFP
