Butantan believes that immunization against dengue will be available in 2027
The Butantan Institute believes that the dengue vaccine, called Butantan DV, could be available again in 2027, after new studies and in-depth analyses.
The statement was made by Esper Kallás, director of the Butantan Institute, in an interview with Live CNN this Tuesday (9). He detailed the reasons that led the Ministry of Health to preventively suspend vaccination.
According to him, the pause in vaccination was determined after the analysis of the first approximately 500,000 vaccinated people pointed to possible unidentified adverse events.
"These are side effects that could be related to the vaccine and that we had not detected when carrying out research studies until now", explained Kallás.
The director of Butantan stated that the pause in the application will serve to delve deeper into the data and try to understand what happened to the people who suffered these side effects, including identifying whether there is a specific group of people predisposed to developing an adverse reaction to the vaccine.
Kallás highlighted that the vaccine went through all phases of clinical development rigorously, including a phase 3 study with around 11 thousand participants, in addition to a pilot vaccination in three Brazilian municipalities: Botucatu (SP), Nova Lima (MG) and Maranguape (CE).
In these cities, more than 80 thousand people were immunized without any signs of adverse effects appearing. Side effects began to be observed in the subsequent vaccination, which involved first responder healthcare professionals.
Joint investigation
According to Kallás, the Butantan Institute, the Ministry of Health, through the National Immunization Program, and Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) are working in an integrated manner to investigate the causes of adverse events. Anvisa announced the creation of a group of experts to monitor the process.
"Communication and exchanges involving Butantan, the Ministry of Health and Anvisa have been happening and we are even setting up joint working groups to bring the best possible answers", declared the director.
Kallás also highlighted that the Institute has more than 45 million doses available in the form of IFA (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) in bulk, ready for packaging, produced both by Butantan itself and by a partner company.
However, the production schedule is being reevaluated as the analyzes progress. "There is no answer, it depends on what will happen when analyzing the data and carrying out the studies for the decision to be made", he explained.
Expectations for the next endemic period
When asked about the possibility of the vaccine being available before the next period of higher dengue incidence, Kallás stated that this would be the ideal scenario.
He recalled that the disease presents epidemic variations from year to year. "2026 is a very peaceful year, the number of cases was one of the lowest we have ever had in history. In 2024, Brazil registered more than 6 million cases and more than 6 thousand deaths. What could happen next year? Nobody knows", he stated.
Kallás highlighted that the vaccine produced by Butantan offers 65% protection against common cases of dengue and 80% against severe cases, with a single dose.
"If the Butantan DV vaccine is available, and I believe that the vaccine has the potential to be back in the fight against dengue in the following season, we would have a formidable weapon", he said.
The texts generated by artificial intelligence on CNN Brasil are made based on video cuts from the newspapers in its programming. All information is investigated and checked by journalists. The final text is also reviewed by the CNN journalism team. Click here to find out more.
Source: CNN