Butantan begins in October tests dengue vaccine

The Institute Butantan, in partnership with the University of São Paulo (USP), initiates in October the tests in humans of a vaccine against dengue. The vaccine is being developed to combat, in a single dose, the four types of the disease already identified in world. According Alexander Precioso, director Clinical Trials the Butantan, no other country has a vaccine how this.

The vaccine began to be developed in 2006, along with the institutes national Health of United States. Viruses were identified in North American country and subsequently, transferred to the Butantan, in 2010.

The technique uses the called attenuated virus. That ignifica that the virus itself of dengue is changed to be able to do with that people produce antibodies, but without developing the disease, explained Precioso.

Scientists have already tested the vaccine in more than 600 north-Americans. The studies there showed that is a vaccine securely and that was able to make with which people produce antibodies cons four viruses, he said. The researcher further explained that, in these volunteers, not side effects were observed important, only pain and redness at site of application, sensation common for vaccines.

However, like the United States are not an endemic region for dengue, no volunteer which received immunization had contracted the disease before. In Brazil, the tests are going to involve also people who already had dengue.

The scientist said that, based in published studies in Southwest Asian and the United States, patients with historical of dengue may receive the immunization without health risk. Early in the development of the vaccine there [in the United States], some people received monovalent, only of a kind, and then another dose of a different virus, to see if whom had already the past of dengue rush risk, explained.

In a first step of tests Brazilians, that begin this week, will be recruited 50 volunteers of capital paulista, everyone healthy adults and who have never had dengue, aged between 18:59 years, of both sexes. They will be immunized in two doses, with interval of six months between them.

The next step will include people with historical of dengue and the vaccine will be applied in single dose. Will be 250 volunteers of capital paulista and the city of Ribeirão Preto, within the state.

We worked with the hypothesis that she [vaccine] will be crafted in a dose, but in the early 50 volunteers will be two doses, said Precioso.Os results from there [United States] demonstrated that the vaccine already operates only with a dose. How will she be, the first time, used in a region dengue endemic, let's evaluate the two schemes [one or two doses] and the two types of population [have already had or never had dengue], added.

The third and last phase will recruit people of diverse parts of the country, of various ages. She will generate the result that we need to request the record in Anvisa and, from there, the vaccine will be available. The prediction of researchers is that the vaccine arrives to the population in five years.

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