Health officials in Prachuap Khiri Khan step up fight against dengue fever after the death of two children

[webfact]

 

Prachuap Khiri Khan Provincial Public Health Office has intensified its efforts to implement disease control measures in order to curb the spread of dengue fever following the tragic deaths of two young children.

 

Dr. Jarurat Patthong, Deputy Provincial Health Officer of Prachuap Khiri Khan, addressed the monthly meeting of the provincial government’s department heads Wednesday (June 28) providing an update on the dengue fever situation in the province.

 

Since the beginning of this year, a total of 196 cases of dengue fever have been reported in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, with an incidence rate of 35.42 per 100,000 population.

 

Regrettably, two individuals, a one-month-old infant and a four-year-old child, succumbed to the disease, Dr. Jarurat reported.

 

By Online Reporter

Top photo: Mosquito Close up Sucking blood

 

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Full story: https://www.huahintoday.com/local-news/health-officials-in-prachuap-khiri-khan-step-up-fight-against-dengue-fever-after-the-death-of-two-children/

 

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[metisdead]

A troll post with a trolling image has been removed.

[tomm12]

Does anyone know when the Takeda tak003 Dengue fever vaccine might be approved in Thailand?

[K2938]

3 minutes ago, tomm12 said:

Does anyone know when the Takeda tak003 Dengue fever vaccine might be approved in Thailand?

You can get it in Indonesia if you are under 45

[tomm12]

Thank you for the reply. I fall under the over 65 group.

regards,

[K2938]

1 hour ago, tomm12 said:

Thank you for the reply. I fall under the over 65 group.

regards,

Since severe dengue is much more likely when you get it the second time and since the vaccination is also more effective if you already had it once (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41541-023-00658-2), you might want to wait unless you already got it once.  If not, you can get it in any EU country, but since there are two doses required with 3 months distance this would also mean two trips.

Please also note that there is a shortage of data for the efficacy of the vaccine for old people (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477893923000583?via%3Dihub)

Edited June 29, 2023 by K2938

[tomm12]

Thank you for the information. I did not know the US was working on a vaccine as well.

Regards,

[GroveHillWanderer]

On 6/29/2023 at 11:11 AM, K2938 said:

Since severe dengue is much more likely when you get it the second time and since the vaccination is also more effective if you already had it once (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41541-023-00658-2), you might want to wait unless you already got it once.  If not, you can get it in any EU country, but since there are two doses required with 3 months distance this would also mean two trips.

Please also note that there is a shortage of data for the efficacy of the vaccine for old people (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477893923000583?via%3Dihub)

I think you're conflating the two different Dengue vaccines. Your first point about it working better if you've already had Dengue, only applies to the Dengvaxia vaccine. Also, Dengvaxia can actually be dangerous if you haven't had Dengue before as it can make the disease worse when you do get it.

 

The new Takeda TAK-003 vaccine, marketed as QDENGA, does not have the same drawbacks as Dengvaxia - it works well, whether you've previously had Dengue or not and it doesn't carry the risk of enhancing the disease when you get it.

 

It's true that there isn't clinical trial efficacy data for people over 16 but it has been shown to elicit a potent immunological response in older people and has been approved for all individuals aged over 4, in the EU, the UK and other countries.

 

According to the article below about QDENGA, it has been approved for use in Thailand but when I checked at one of the local clinics last week, they said it wasn't yet available for sale anywhere in the country.

 

QDENGA vaccine

Edited July 19, 2023 by GroveHillWanderer

[K2938]

5 hours ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

I think you're conflating the two different Dengue vaccines. Your first point about it working better if you've already had Dengue, only applies to the Dengvaxia vaccine. Also, Dengvaxia can actually be dangerous if you haven't had Dengue before as it can make the disease worse when you do get it.

 

The new Takeda TAK-003 vaccine, marketed as QDENGA, does not have the same drawbacks as Dengvaxia - it works well, whether you've previously had Dengue or not and it doesn't carry the risk of enhancing the disease when you get it.

 

It's true that there isn't clinical trial efficacy data for people over 16 but it has been shown to elicit a potent immunological response in older people and has been approved for all individuals aged over 4, in the EU, the UK and other countries.

 

According to the article below about QDENGA, it has been approved for use in Thailand but when I checked at one of the local clinics last week, they said it wasn't yet available for sale anywhere in the country.

1) No, if you actually look at the trial data the Qdenga vaccine is more effective if you already had dengue.  See for example: At the 18-month timepoint, vaccine efficacy against all dengue in dengue immune recipients was 76.1% and 66.2% in dengue non-immune recipients.  You are absolutely right that Qdenga does not have the severe and potentially fatal drawbacks of the previous vaccine.  However, it is less effective if you did not already have dengue.  (See also: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41541-023-00658-2; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477893923000583).

2) I have also seen the article stating that Qdenga has been approved in Thailand, but while I do not know I actually suspected this might be a typo as just a few days before I read some senior Thai scientist saying the opposite.  So just wanted to ask you if you are really sure about it having been approved in Thailand.  When I looked, I only found - like in your article - a side comment on Thailand in articles on the withdrawal of the application in the U.S. and this could be just one article copying from the other a potential typo.

Edited July 19, 2023 by K2938

[MrJ2U]

5 hours ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

they said it wasn't yet available for sale anywhere in the country.

Ridiculous.

 

Perhaps there waiting for countries to donate the vaccine like they did with Pfiezer and Moderna?

 

What's the cost?

 

There's always a money angle with vaccine importation to Thailand.  It's difficult for private hospitals to import vital vaccines without the government acting as a middleman to skim some money out of it and thus increasing the price.

 

"The Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO)"

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Pharmaceutical_Organization

Edited July 19, 2023 by MrJ2U

[GroveHillWanderer]

12 hours ago, K2938 said:

So just wanted to ask you if you are really sure about it having been approved in Thailand.  When I looked, I only found - like in your article - a side comment on Thailand in articles on the withdrawal of the application in the U.S. and this could be just one article copying from the other a potential typo.

The only evidence I was going off, was the article I quoted. You're right, it could be inaccurate. Other articles I've seen (that were written earlier) said that Takeda was intending to apply for approval in Thailand. But since this one was dated more recently, I thought they must have done so.

[K2938]

On 7/20/2023 at 10:06 AM, GroveHillWanderer said:

The only evidence I was going off, was the article I quoted. You're right, it could be inaccurate. Other articles I've seen (that were written earlier) said that Takeda was intending to apply for approval in Thailand. But since this one was dated more recently, I thought they must have done so.

I now believe that it has actually been approved in Thailand:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/peter-streibl-3117422a_ตรวจสอบผลตภณฑ-activity-7061678608972468224-y675

https://pertento.fda.moph.go.th/FDA_SEARCH_DRUG/SEARCH_DRUG/pop-up_drug_ex.aspx?Newcode=U1DR2C1072660000411C


So should actually be locally available sometime in the not too distant future

Edited August 2, 2023 by K2938

[GroveHillWanderer]

13 hours ago, K2938 said:

I now believe that it has actually been approved in Thailand:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/peter-streibl-3117422a_ตรวจสอบผลตภณฑ-activity-7061678608972468224-y675

https://pertento.fda.moph.go.th/FDA_SEARCH_DRUG/SEARCH_DRUG/pop-up_drug_ex.aspx?Newcode=U1DR2C1072660000411C


So should actually be locally available sometime in the not too distant future

The Thai FDA entry there indicates it was approved in May this year, so it seems that article I quoted earlier was correct, after all.