As the dengue vaccine is included as part of recommendations for preventing dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) in children and adults, discussions regarding the effectiveness and side effects of the vaccine have also emerged.
Prof. Dr. Dr. Hartono Gunardi, Sp.A(K), Professor of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia (UI), believes that vaccines as one of Indonesia’s national strategies for preventing dengue fever need to be given to groups of people at risk.
Reported Between on Sunday (21/1/2024), data showed that dengue fever attacks children aged 5-14 years, with the death rate in the age group of children under 14 years ranging from 66 percent.
On the other hand, children are susceptible to dengue infection because they are close to populations of the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
Apart from that, mosquito active times coincide with children’s activity schedules in general, namely during the day with peaks at 08.00-13.00 and 15.00-17.00.
Therefore, the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI) has issued recommendations for dengue vaccination for children, which contains four antigens from four dengue virus serotypes since 2020.
Even though at that time the vaccine available was the first generation. Currently, the dengue vaccine available is TAK-003.
Then, referring to the recommendations of the Association of Indonesian Internal Medicine Experts (PAPDI), the vaccine can be given to children aged 6 years to adults aged 45 years. Considering that the protection starts at the age of 6 years compared to children under that age.
According to Hartono, vaccines are given from the age of 6 considering that their immune system is better than children under that age.
Referring to research in eight countries including Southeast Asia and Latin America involving more than 28,000 people.
The results of phase 3 clinical trials show that the dengue vaccine can protect against dengue disease which requires hospitalization by 84 percent.
Then, the immunity generated is different between people who have been infected with dengue and those who have not been infected.
In those who have been infected with dengue, vaccine protection is higher, namely 86 percent. Meanwhile, for those who have not been infected with dengue, the protection is 79 percent.
According to the data, overall, protection against dengue reached 61 percent, up to 4.5 years after administering the second dose at three month intervals.
“These results are consistent and there is no increase in the risk of contracting more severe dengue fever in people who have received this vaccine,” said Hartono, who also serves as Chair of the Immunization Task Force of the Indonesian Pediatrician Association.
Then, talking about side effects, said Hartono, these include pain at the injection site, headache, weakness, muscle aches and fever with a risk of less than 10 percent.
There is no evidence to suggest that if someone has been vaccinated against dengue, dengue will become more severe and there will be no dangerous side effects after a person is vaccinated. (ant/saf/ham)
2024-01-21 09:30:33
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