Dengue surges in the Americas as Florida reports more local cases
With about 2.4 million dengue cases reported in the Americas so far, the 2019 total will probably top the number for the last epidemic year, which occurred in 2015, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said its latest update late last week.
In August, PAHO said the region is experiencing a new epidemic cycle with a complex situation shaping in Latin America and the Caribbean. Of 2,384,029 cases this year, 949 were fatal. In addition, 44.7% of the illnesses were classified as severe dengue, a proportion that has exceeded levels observed in the previous 4 years.
Of five countries with the highest incidence rates, four are in Central America: Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Brazil is the other main hot spot. All four dengue serotypes are present in the Americas, and Brazil, Guatemala, and Mexico are reporting cocirculation of all four.
Children are among hardest-hit groups, with Guatemala, for example, reporting that kids younger than 15 years make up 67% of the country's severe dengue cases. PAHO and the World Health Organization (WHO) urge member countries to take several preparedness and response steps, including ensuring that health workers are properly trained in diagnosis and treatment, with a special focus on age-groups and at-risk groups that have the highest case-fatality rates.
Sep 13 PAHO dengue update
In other dengue developments, the Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County has issued a mosquito-borne illness alert after a fourth local dengue was confirmed in a Miami-Dade resident, according to a Sep 13 news release. It said the four local cases don't appear to be related.
Also, Florida health officials reported a fifth dengue case, signifying the first of the year in neighboring Broward County, according to a Sep 13 Miami Herald report.
Sep 13 Florida Health Miami-Dade press release
Sep 13 Miami Herald report
Batavia Biosceinces receives grant for novel oral polio vaccine
The Gates Foundation has awarded Batavia Biosciences $6.5 million to develop a manufacturing process for making a novel oral polio vaccine to protect against the type 2 strain (nOPV2).
Bativia Boisciences announced the award today.
"The nOPV2 vaccine, provided by our partner Bio Farma, is currently the most advanced in clinical development and most in demand. The successful development of a low-cost manufacturing process for the novel PV2 strain will allow us to next apply our developed process to the novel PV1 and PV3 strains," said Batavia's Chief Scientific Officer Chris Yallop, PhD, in a news release.
Bativia is partnering with nonprofit PATH and Bio Farma to develop the process for nOPV2, which, if successful, will then be followed by vaccines for nOPV1 and nOPV3. The manufacturing process for nOPV2 will follow the process Batavia developed for the inactivated Sabin polio vaccine.
Wild poliovirus is still endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but several countries in Africa and Asia this year have reported vaccine-derived cases of the paralyzing virus. According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), there have been 78 wild polio cases detected so far this year and 72 vaccine-derived cases.
Sep 16 Batavia Biosciences press release
Sep 13 GPEI update
