New dengue vaccine tested in Brazil proven effective

A new dengue vaccine tested in Brazil has proven to be effective in alleviating the disease, the state news agency Agencia Brasil announced Monday.

The new vaccine, "which has passed all study and test trials, was shown to be 95.5 percent effective in reducing severe cases of the disease, including the hemorrhagic type, during the testing phase in Brazil and Latin America," the agency said.

The vaccine, developed by French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi Pasteur, "is the first fully developed dengue vaccine in the world," the agency added.

Sheila Homsani, from the firm's vaccines division, said the new vaccine is safe and will be able to sharply cut the number of dengue patients that need to be treated in hospitals. The vaccine has to be applied three times, at six-month intervals.

Dengue fever is a recurrent problem in Brazil, especially during the rainy summers, when outbreaks occur in different parts of the country.

A total of 377 people had died from dengue fever in Brazil up to the first week of October, and 547,600 cases had been reported nationwide.

The situation has improved since last year, when more than a million cases were reported.

The mosquito-borne disease affects several countries in Central and South America with tropical climates, as well as countries in Africa and Asia.

The vaccine maker is expected to file for approval by Brazil's National Health Monitoring Agency in early 2015, and have the drug commercially available by the end of that year.