Only 2 out of every 10 Dengue vaccines delivered by SUS were applied

Dengue

Low demand led the ministry to expand the vaccination age range

Of a total of 1.2 million doses distributed by the federal government to 521 municipalities, only 250,000 dengue vaccines have been administered to date. The data was presented this Friday (8) by the director of the Department of the National Immunization Program of the Ministry of Health, Eder Gatti.

In a press conference, he recalled that the department accounts for, in total, 365 thousand doses applied, since, in addition to the strategy developed by the SUS, there are also initiatives such as the one in the municipality of Dourados (MS), which is immunizing the entire local population with aged between 4 and 59 years, thanks to a partnership between the Municipal Health Department and the manufacturer of Qdenga.

The director highlighted that, initially, the department distributed a number of doses to children aged 10 and 11. Given reports of low demand for immunization and doses approaching their expiration date, the ministry chose to expand the age group to receive the vaccine at this time, also including teenagers aged 12 to 14.

Understand

The Ministry of Health selected a total of 521 municipalities from 16 Brazilian states, in addition to the Federal District, to begin vaccination against dengue via the Unified Health System (SUS) from February. The cities make up a total of 37 health regions that, according to the ministry, are considered endemic for the disease.

Children and adolescents aged 10 to 14, the age group with the highest number of hospitalizations due to dengue, make up the target audience for immunization. From January 2019 to November 2023, the group accounted for 16,400 hospitalizations, second only to the elderly, a group for which the vaccine was not authorized.

Alert to parents

For more than 15 years, pediatrician Natália Bastos has been treating patients from newborns to teenagers in the federal capital. In an interview with Agência Brasil, she highlighted that there is an explosion in dengue cases and that parents need to be cautious.

“I would like to issue this alert asking parents who have not vaccinated their children to look for the vaccination room so that Qdenga can be administered [vacina contra a dengue]. It is a dengue vaccine made with the attenuated virus, a very safe vaccine. It has been developed by the Takeda laboratory since before Covid-19, before the pandemic. So, it is not a new vaccine, it is not a vaccine that was developed hastily. There are already several studies and it has gone through all the stages.”

Natália highlighted that the complete Qdenga vaccination schedule, with two doses, guarantees around 80% effectiveness and that the side effects, including in children, are small – especially when compared to those that a dengue infection can cause.

“With one dose, you generally have very mild immediate side effects and, within 10 days, some spots on the body or some pain in the body. Even so, there are few symptoms considering what dengue fever can cause in a child or adult.”

“While it was in the private network room, it was a vaccine that was costing, on average, R$400 to R$500. Today, the vaccine is available in the health center room, free of charge. So, I invite all parents to seek the vaccine with their children aged 10 to 11 as a matter of urgency,” she concluded.

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