Dengue vaccine.

Dengue is an expanding health problem. About two-fifths of the world population are at risk for acquiring dengue with 50-100 million cases of acute febrile illness yearly including about 500,000 cases of DHF/DSS. No antiviral drugs active against the flavivirus exist. Attempts to control mosquito vector has been largely unsuccessful. Vaccination remains the most hopeful preventive measure. Dengue vaccine has been in development for more than 30 years, yet none has been licensed. The fact that enhancing antibody from previous infection and high level of T cell activation during secondary infection contribute to immunopathology of DHF, the vaccine must be able to induce protective response to four dengue serotypes simultaneously. Inactivated vaccine is safe but needs a repeated booster thus, development is delayed. Tetravalent live attenuated vaccine and chimeric vaccine using yellow fever or dengue viruses as a backbone are being carried out in human trials. DNA vaccine and subunit vaccine are being carried out in animal trials.