TEXTO:
Dengue Vaccine
The Brazilian government has authorized the
country’s first dengue vaccine, produced by the French
laboratory Sanofi Pasteur. It is expected to be on sale
within three months. The Ministry of Health says that it
[5] is considering provision of the vaccine on the public health
system, and that such plans are “priority”, but it still
expressed some reservations about the vaccine.
The vaccine, which has already been authorized in
Mexico and the Philippines, is aimed at the 9 to 45 age
[10] range. It is administered in three doses, six months apart,
and has a total efficacy rate of 66%. The laboratory Sanofi
Pasteur says that price will depend on the government’s
provision strategy. Marcelo Castro, the minister of health,
says that cost is a “problem”. He suggested it may cost
[15] as much as •20 (R$ 84) per dose.
Jarbas Barbosa, president of the National Health
Surveillance Agency, said in May that its efficacy is
“limited”, and that a break of six months between each
dose “would not prevent infection.” Moreover, University
[20] of São Paulo infectologist Esper Kallás is critical of the
fact that the vaccine is not available for young children
and the elderly — the two groups most at risk of serious
cases of dengue. However, Sheila Homsani, Sanofi
Pasteur medical director, argues that 70% of Brazil’s
[25] dengue cases affect the age range for which the vaccine
will be available.
Brazil registered 1.58 million probable cases of
dengue up to the start of December — nearly three times
the figure for the same period in 2014.
DENGUE vaccine. Disponível em: <www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/ en/brazil/2015/12/1723919-dengue-vaccine-approved...shtml>. Acesso em: 13 maio 2016.
Considering the vaccine availability,
