## Brazil Leads the Charge Against Dengue with Vaccine and Innovative Mosquito Control
Brazil is at the forefront of combating dengue fever,pursuing both a domestically-developed vaccine and a novel mosquito-based control strategy. The Butantan Institute, a leading Brazilian biomedical research center, has developed a dengue vaccine demonstrating 74% effectiveness in individuals with no prior dengue exposure1. While a well-designed trial, experts note a limitation: the clinical trial was conducted in a single country, raising the possibility that not all four dengue serotypes were actively circulating during the data collection period.
Specifically, serotypes 3 and 4 were not prevalent during the trial. However, Butantan researchers point to a phase II trial involving 300 adults, which showed participants generated neutralizing antibodies against all four serotypes, suggesting potential effectiveness against these less-represented strains.This earlier study focused on short-term safety and immune response, and the extensive results from the larger phase III trial – crucial for assessing long-term efficacy – are currently undergoing peer review and have not yet been publicly released.
The Brazilian government is anticipating approval from Anvisa, the country’s regulatory agency, and has already committed to purchasing 60 million doses annually starting in 2026.Butantan has begun large-scale vaccine production at its São Paulo facility to meet this projected demand.Institute representatives express confidence in the vaccine’s approval and the urgent need for its widespread distribution. Plans are underway, in collaboration with progress partner Merck and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), to extend access beyond Brazil, initially focusing on distribution throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.Merck is also leveraging butantan’s research to develop a similar vaccine formulation for use in Asia, with a phase III trial already underway. The World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledges the trial’s quality but emphasizes the importance of broader data.
Alongside the vaccine effort, Brazil is significantly expanding the use of the *Wolbachia* method for dengue control.Developed by the World Mosquito Program (WMP) at Monash University in Australia, this strategy involves releasing mosquitoes carrying *Wolbachia*, a naturally occurring bacteria absent in *aedes aegypti*, the primary dengue-transmitting mosquito. Brazil is leading the global expansion of this method, spearheaded by Brazilian researcher Luciano Moreira, now CEO of Wolbito do Brazil. The WMP currently operates in 14 countries, including Vietnam, Indonesia, Mexico, and Colombia.
1Reference information as provided in the original text.
