HEALTH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa yesterday said a decision by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the application for registration of the dengue vaccine “Qdenga” is expected to come “anytime this year.”
Qdenga is manufactured by the Japanese firm Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, and filed its application with the FDA last year.
Herbosa, at a briefing, said the DFA evaluation process usually takes about a year.
“So if they applied last year, it could come out anytime this year,” he said.
Several medical organizations have asked the regulatory agency to fast-track the approval of Qdenga’s application for registration.
According to Takeda, Qdenga (TAK-003) has an overall vaccine efficacy of 80.2 percent against confirmed dengue cases, has no evidence of disease enhancement in vaccine recipients, and has no important safety risks.
Herbosa said vaccines are only secondary to in dengue prevention.
“Vaccine is not the real solution, it is vector control. This is the most important measure against dengue,” said Herbosa.
He said the rainy season is the time of the year when the mosquito population is at its peak.
“This is dengue season, the rainy season. More water, more containers, more rain, more mosquitoes, and more dengue cases,” he said.
Last Monday, the DOH reported that the number of dengue cases have started climbing. From January 1 to June 15, the DOH recorded 77,867 dengue cases nationwide.
