Popular_Science_Australia_November_2016

20 POPULAR SCIENCE

Dengue—a virus most commonly

transmitted by the Aedes aegypti

mosquito—infects some 400

million people yearly. It causes

high fever, severe headaches,

vomiting, and sometimes

death. About 40 per cent of

the world’s population is at

risk, and as the climate warms

and travel increases, that risk

will only climb. This year, the

World Health Organisation

started recommending the

first vaccine to prevent dengue,

and inoculations have begun

in hot zones like Brazil and the

Philippines. Four viruses cause

dengue, so developing a vaccine

that protects against all four took

researchers 20 years to do. If 20

per cent of the population gets

vaccinated, dengue cases could

drop 50 per cent within five years.

Controlling dengue could also

reduce the $11 billion the disease

costs global economies each year.

SANOFI PASTEUR DENGVAXIA

Finally, a Vaccine

for Dengue