Bangladesh considers dengue vaccine trials as outbreak intensifies

Bangladesh is considering carrying out clinical trials of a vaccine against dengue fever after thousands of patients have been hospitalised with the disease and hundreds have died, a minister said on Tuesday.

More than 90,350 people have been hospitalised with dengue and 281 have died since the beginning of the year, according to health ministry data.

As the outbreak has intensified, in October alone, 10,736 people have been hospitalised and 36 people have died in a country whose healthcare system is also under severe pressure from a measles outbreak that has killed more than 1,100 children.

Recent rainfall has created perfect conditions for mosquito breeding, raising concerns the outbreak of dengue could get worse. Spread by mosquito bites, the virus can cause fever and severe muscle and joint pain.

State Minister for Health M.A. Muhit told reporters all four variants of the virus had been detected, which makes it more likely people will be repeatedly infected as immunity to one variant, or serotype, does not make them immune to the other three.

"With all four dengue serotypes now circulating in Bangladesh, we are considering conducting vaccine trials in the country," Muhit said.

Health experts have said dengue is no longer just concentrated in major cities and that spraying will not curb transmission unless breeding sites can be eliminated.

Any vaccine trial, which could be part of a longer-term strategy to deal with the disease, would require regulatory approval.

Bangladesh suffered its deadliest dengue outbreak on record in 2023, when more than 1,700 people died.

-Reporting by Ruma Paul; editing by Barbara Lewis/Reuters