Times 2

Malaysia testing dengue vaccine as deaths surge

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysian health authorities have announced that they are testing a dengue vaccine in a bid to combat the disease which has seen death rate jumped more than 60 percent this year.

At present there is no treatment or vaccine for the mosquito-borne disease, which has killed 128 people this year in Malaysia alone, compared to 78 deaths during the same period a year ago. Malaysian health authorities said they started clinical trials involving some 300 volunteers in the middle of the year and would carry out further trials from December.

"If these studies are successful, we hope the vaccine can be made available to the Malaysian people in the next few years," health ministry director general Ismail Merican said in a statement. "A dengue vaccine is the ultimate next step in the prevention of dengue fever," said the top health official, who described the trials as the "latest breakthrough".

Malaysia is working with Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis, to develop the vaccine. Nearly 43,500 dengue fever cases have been reported in Malaysia this year, and the public is being urged to take action to eradicate the Aedes aegypti mosquito -- which spreads dengue -- from homes and workplaces.

Malaysia is also planning to conduct a controversial field trial by releasing genetically-modified mosquitoes -- the first experiment of its kind in Asia. The virus has historically been found in tropical regions, particularly in urban and semi-urban areas, but has spread in recent years to colder and higher places and is now endemic in more than 100 countries.

Top to the page  |  E-mail  |  views[1]
SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend
 
Other Times 2 Articles
WikiLeaks fights to stay online as founder's arrest looms
Clinton charm falls flat with Iran minister
Obama says US winning Afghan war
ICoast's Gbagbo pressured to concede presidency
Bangladesh's Grameen denies wrongdoing
Israel inferno sweeps through villages, after killing 41
A journalist ends up in the headlines
Arsenic-munching germ redefines "life as we know it"
The rise and fall of Putinism: Russia's silent rebellion
WikiLeaks is holding US global power to account
UN a playground for spies of all political stripes
Whistleblower accuses 'cowardly' Amazon of lying
WikiLeaks moves site to Switzerland amid US fury
'Dancing' Kazakh PM unfazed by WikiLeaks revelations
Will my breasts blow up this airplane?
Treating dengue more difficult with growing obesity. Experts
Malaysia testing dengue vaccine as deaths surge
Turning over new Leaf for EV era
2010 to be among three warmest years, UN says

 

 
Reproduction of articles permitted when used without any alterations to contents and a link to the source page.
© Copyright 2010 | Wijeya Newspapers Ltd.Colombo. Sri Lanka. All Rights Reserved.| Site best viewed in IE ver 6.0 @ 1024 x 768 resolution