Anvisa authorised the Butantan-DV single-dose dengue vaccine on 26 November for people aged 12 to 59. Health specialists say the single-dose format should ease delivery in remote and hard-to-reach areas, including communities in the Amazon. The approval follows Brazil's largest recorded dengue epidemic in 2024, when the Ministry of Health reported 6.4 million cases and 5,972 deaths. The World Health Organization recorded more than 14 million global cases in 2024, of which 12.6 million were in Latin America, and reported more than 8,000 deaths in the region.
Butantan describes Butantan-DV as a live, attenuated vaccine that includes the four dengue serotypes. It can be given to people who have previously had dengue and to those never exposed. This differs from Dengvaxia, which could only be given to people with prior infection, and from TAK-003 (Qdenga), which requires two doses three months apart. Esper Kallas of Butantan called the vaccine a "powerful weapon" against dengue, and Jesem Orellana of Fiocruz noted that two-dose schedules are harder and more expensive in regions crossed by rivers and with poor land connections.
Late-stage trials in Brazil involved 16,000 volunteers over nearly a decade and showed 74.7% overall efficacy and 91.6% efficacy against severe disease. The most recent data indicates 100% efficacy against hospitalisations; Butantan said a spokesperson expects those results to be published soon in Nature Medicine, while earlier analyses appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Butantan said the vaccine will be included in Brazil's national immunisation programme in early 2026 and that more than 1 million doses are ready to distribute. The institute has partnered with WuXi Vaccines to produce 60 million doses over the next two years, with around half expected before the end of 2026. The National Immunization Program will define the vaccination strategy and priority groups in the coming weeks. Some populations are not yet authorised to receive the vaccine—pregnant women, immunocompromised people and older adults—and Anvisa is analysing evidence for these groups. Butantan confirmed it can offer the vaccine to other countries in the region but gave no timetable; the priority is supplying Brazil's public health system through the Ministry of Health.
Disease specialists warned that vaccination alone will not eliminate dengue. They emphasised continued mosquito control, surveillance and measures to reduce Aedes aegypti reproduction, and they noted that climate change and urbanisation have increased conditions favourable to the mosquito and the risk of other diseases such as chikungunya and yellow fever.
Difficult words
- authorised — give official permission for use
- attenuated — weakened so it cannot cause serious disease
- serotypes — a group of virus variants identified by immune response
- efficacy — how well a vaccine prevents disease in trials
- immunocompromised — having a weak or less effective immune system
- surveillance — continuous monitoring to detect disease or problems
- immunisation — the process of giving vaccines to protect people
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- How could a single-dose vaccine change vaccination delivery in remote communities? Give reasons from the article.
- Why do disease specialists say vaccination alone will not eliminate dengue? Which additional measures do they recommend?
- The article lists factors that increase mosquito-borne disease risk. Which factors are these, and how might they affect future outbreaks?
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