Gov’t in talks with int’l partners to acquire dengue vaccines from Japan

The Government of Guyana is looking at the possibility of procuring dengue vaccines manufactured by Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ – a Japanese firm.
During an interview with <<Guyana Times,>> Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony disclosed that talks have commenced with international partners such as the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to gain access to the dengue vaccines, given that it is scarce and expensive.
“There is a vaccine that is manufactured in Japan, but right now global supply is very scarce. For example, a lot of this vaccine has been bought by Brazil, and they have an immunization programme that they are giving to their five-to-10 years of age, which they have been giving to the children of Brazil. But the vaccine is quite expensive, and right now it is very scarce, so the price probably has gone up too. We were looking into it, and if we get an organisation like PAHO to access the vaccine through their strategic fund and make it available at a cheaper cost, then it would become more affordable to countries like (those) in the Americas,” he explained.

In addition to cost and availability, Minister Anthony explained that the efficacy of the dengue vaccines is currently being examined in order to determine their effectiveness to all the strains of the mosquito-borne virus, which include DENV-1, -2, -3, and -4.
“In the Americas right now, we have all four variants that are circulating. And the challenge that you have with dengue is that if you were infected with one subtype, you would have mild symptoms; nothing will go wrong with you. But if you get infected a second time with a different subtype, you can have a more severe form of the infection. So that’s a challenge that we’re trying to work through. So, that’s the challenge with the vaccine. One the efficacy, two the availability, and three the cost,” Dr. Anthony detailed.
The minister further stated that, in the interim, the Health Ministry is focusing on prevention and early detection of dengue cases.
On this point, he disclosed that work has intensified and the public health sector is testing more persons for the virus.
“Last year we probably did — overall for the whole year — about 26,000 tests. This year, already we have completed about 29,000 tests. So, we’re doing more testing, and we’re trying to find people as early as possible. And I think with the testing that we have done, and I have to check the numbers, I think we have found about 6,000 positive persons; and of those, a smaller fraction would have gone into a hospital,” he said.

Dengue in the Americas
Dengue is an acute febrile disease that is caused by the dengue virus, which is transmitted by the Aedes Egypti mosquito. There are four serotypes of the dengue virus, known as DENV 1-4, each of which can cause an infection. Reinfection with a different serotype from that of a previous infection can result in a more severe form of the disease.
In March of this year, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned about the surge in dengue cases in the Americas. Guyana recorded 7,859 cases of dengue in 2023, while hospitalizations related to dengue reached 1,182 individuals.
In 2024, over 3000 cases have been detected from January to August, while there have been approximately four dengue-related deaths.