The Tribune

By LETRE SWEETING

Tribune Staff Reporter

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement chairman Dr Duane Sands has called for the Davis administration to bring in a dengue vaccine - with cases having risen to 66 as of yesterday, according to The Ministry of Health and Wellness.

Dr Sands was a guest  on Rodney Moncur’s Freedom March talk show yesterday.

In the space of two days, 14 more cases of dengue fever have been confirmed according to a Dengue Alert, released by the ministry yesterday.

The alert sent out reiterated symptoms of the disease including, headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, rash and aches and pains in certain areas of the body.

The alert added that: “Prevention and control of dengue depend on vector control. There is no specific treatment for dengue/severe dengue, and early detection and access to proper medical care greatly lower fatality rates of severe dengue.”

Yesterday, Dr Sands said: “We ought to have a conversation in this country — I know vaccines are something that some people have a serious issue with, not that they should, but let’s ask the government if I want to get the dengue vaccine, would you bring it in?

“There is a vaccine available. It is commercially available. Depending on which vaccine you choose, it can either be used only in young people, people younger than the age of 16. Or another version can be used in young people and adults.

“It can be purchased by the government and I think we should be proactive, get a supply and make it available to people that want it.

“People that have never had dengue, probably are not candidates for vaccination. The problem with dengue is, many people get dengue and don’t know it, because the majority of people who get dengue have very mild symptoms.

“I think if we look at the official numbers and that is the number of people that have been tested and if we say that there have been 60 that have been confirmed, then it is not unreasonable to infer that you probably have more than 600 people already infected with dengue. The numbers can increase, they can explode.

“Given the fact there are a number of people in the country who have been previously infected with different stereotypes of dengue, when they come in now, if they get bitten by a mosquito that’s carrying the fourth stereotype or the third stereotype and they had the first or the second, then some of those people come in with what we call haemorrhagic dengue and they can die from it,” Dr Sands said.

According the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the 2022 approved Dengvaxia dengue vaccine is recommended for children ages nine to 16, who have a previous history of “laboratory-confirmed” dengue infection, living in areas where dengue occurs frequently or continuously.

 The CDC said: “Children without previous dengue infection are at increased risk for severe dengue disease and hospitalisation if they get dengue after they are vaccinated with Dengvaxia.

 “Vaccine providers give three doses administered subcutaneously and each dose given 6 months apart (at 0, 6, and 12 months) for full protection.”

 On August 2023, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said: “For the prevention of dengue disease caused by dengue virus serotypes 1, 2, 3 and 4. Dengvaxia is approved for use in individuals six through 16 years of age, with laboratory-confirmed previous dengue infection and living in endemic areas.”

 A second “vaccine”, is called Qdenga or TAK-003, created by the Takeda Pharmaceutical Company in Asia. On July 11, Takeda revealed: “The Company has voluntarily withdrawn the United States Biologics License Application (BLA) for its dengue vaccine candidate, TAK-003, following discussions with the FDA on aspects of data collection, which cannot be addressed within the current BLA review cycle.

 “The future plan for TAK-003 in the United States will be further evaluated given the need for travellers and those living in dengue-endemic areas of the United States, such as Puerto Rico.”

 The Ministry of Health and Wellness announced the reappearance of the dengue fever last month, with confirmed cases steadily increasing each week.