Vaccine for dengue virus within reach
What you need to know:
- Dengue is caused by one of four viral variants and is transmitted by the same mosquito that carries the yellow fever virus.
Antibodies found in the blood of some dengue fever patients could soon make a vaccine for the disease a reality, according to researchers.
Oxford University researchers identified a class of antibodies capable of neutralising all four types of the virus, after screening blood samples from seven patients in south-east Asia.
NEUTRALISING THE VIRUS
The antibodies are also capable of neutralising the virus in mosquitoes, according to the findings published in medical journal Nature Immunology.
The fever is capable of spreading to many people very fast, according to Dr Joseph Audi, an epidemiologist.
“In a very short period, it can become very widespread and overwhelm medical facilities,” he said.
Dengue is caused by one of four viral variants and is transmitted by the same mosquito that carries the yellow fever virus.
A mosquito becomes infected if it bites a carrier of the disease (a human or some species of monkey) within the first three days of the victim catching the disease.
Thereafter, the disease is transmitted by the mosquito to other individuals.
