Dengue fever often strikes tropical climates, like Indonesia. The high cases of dengue fever have made many researchers try to develop the most effective vaccine to prevent this disease. However, the dengue vaccine still has some drawbacks.
Dengue fever (DHF) is a disease caused by a viral infection dengue, This disease is transmitted through mosquito bites Aedes aegypti. Usually, dengue fever flares up during the rainy season. This is because high rainfall allows mosquitoes to breed well.
Dengue fever has several symptoms, such as high fever, skin rashes, bone or muscle pain, and headaches behind the eyes. In severe cases, bleeding can also occur which can be life-threatening. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that about 20,000 people die each year from dengue fever.
Getting to Know the Dengue Fever Vaccine
The available dengue fever vaccine is the CYD-TDV (Dengvaxia) vaccine. This vaccine contains an attenuated tetravalent dengue virus. Tetravalent here means that the vaccine can form immunity against the four circulating types of dengue virus, namely dengue virus serotypes 1 - 4. four to six months.
Effectiveness and Conditions of Giving Dengue Fever Vaccine
Before deciding to give the dengue vaccine to prevent dengue fever, there are several things related to the dengue vaccine that you need to know:
1. Safer for children over 9 years old and adults
Data from several clinical studies show a reduced risk of developing severe dengue fever (requiring hospitalization) in children over the age of nine who are given the vaccine. However, if the dengue vaccine is given to children under the age of nine, it can actually increase the risk of developing severe dengue.
Therefore, this dengue vaccine is only recommended for people between the ages of 9 - 45 years.
2. Only effective in certain groups
The dengue fever vaccine has been shown to be safe and quite effective for people who have had a previous dengue virus infection. However, it actually increases the risk of developing dengue fever in people who have never been infected with the dengue virus.
Therefore, WHO recommends that countries that want to use this vaccine must have a system screening or accurate early detection of dengue infection. This is to prevent people who have never been infected with the dengue virus from being vaccinated.
But in reality, it is not easy to determine whether someone has previously been exposed to dengue fever or not. This is because dengue fever sometimes does not show typical symptoms, or even has no symptoms, so a person does not necessarily know whether he has been infected with the dengue virus or not.
3. Does not provide complete prevention
The dengue vaccine does provide fairly good protection for those who have been exposed to dengue fever before. However, this protection is not total. In some cases, people who have had dengue fever can still get it again, even though they have received the vaccine.
4. Expensive price
In Indonesia, the dengue fever vaccine is a new vaccine. The price range for this vaccine is quite expensive, which is around 1 million for each injection dose (the recommended dose of dengue fever vaccine is three injections).
Therefore, you need to prepare a fairly high cost to get this vaccine. Moreover, the availability of dengue vaccine is still limited, and can only be obtained at a hospital or private pediatrician's practice.
The current dengue vaccine can reduce the risk of dengue virus infection in countries with a high number of dengue cases. However, this can only be achieved if the vaccine is used correctly.
The dengue vaccine is only recommended when the benefits are believed to outweigh the risks. Therefore, you need to consult a doctor first if you want to get a dengue fever vaccination, to make sure that you are suitable to receive the vaccine.
Another thing you need to remember is that efforts to eradicate mosquito nests and prevent mosquito bites are still the main dengue fever prevention measures. Self-vaccination without these efforts will not be effective in preventing dengue fever.
Wear covered clothing if you are in a mosquito-infested area, or use mosquito repellent lotion. Also make sure to regularly drain the containers filled with water and dry the puddles in your home environment so that mosquitoes don't nest.
Written by:
dr. Irene Cindy Sunur
