Dengue vaccine: a valuable asset for the future.

Dengue has emerged as one of the major global public health problems. The disease has broken out of its shell and has spread due to increased international travel and climatic changes. Globally, over 2.5 billion people accounting for >40% of the world's population are at risk from dengue. Since the 1940s, dengue vaccines have been under investigation. A live-attenuated tetravalent vaccine based on chimeric yellow fever-dengue virus (CYD-TDV) has progressed to phase III efficacy studies. Dengue vaccine has been found to be a cost-effective intervention to reduce morbidity and mortality. Current dengue vaccine candidates aim to protect against the 4 dengue serotypes, but the recent discovery of a fifth serotype could complicate vaccine development. In recent years, an urgent need has been felt for a vaccine to prevent the morbidity and mortality from this disease in a cost-effective way.