The Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha, began this Sunday (18) the mass vaccination campaign against dengue in the São Paulo city of Botucatu, using the Butantan-DV vaccine. The immunizer is the first in the world in a single dose that prevents arbovirus disease, with 100% national technology developed by the Butantan Institute.
The study is developed by the Ministry of Health, the City of Botucatu, the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) of Botucatu and the Butantan Institute.
In total, the Ministry of Health decided to vaccinate the population aged 15 to 59 in three entire municipalities, before taking the vaccine throughout Brazil. The objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of immunization, the impact on the population and the circulation of the virus in the community.
“This is the first step of the Butantan vaccine in our dengue vaccination calendar”, declared the minister, this Sunday.
Pilot strategy
In addition to Botucatu, the pilot strategy is being carried out, starting this weekend, in the municipalities of Maranguape (CE) and Nova Lima (MG).
According to the Ministry of Health, the cities were chosen because they have a population of between 100,000 and 200,000 inhabitants, their vaccination history and their proximity to other large metropolitan regions.
Minister Padilha confirms that the goal is to have 40% of the population vaccinated in the age group established by the Ministry of Health.
“Our goal is to reach this population aged 15 to 59 as quickly as possible and, in doing so, confirm what the studies project. If we reach 40 to 50% of the population vaccinated, in addition to protecting each individual who is vaccinated, this vaccine has a strong impact on controlling the disease in the city as a whole.”
In this first stage, 204.1 thousand doses will be distributed among the three municipalities: 80 thousand for Botucatu (SP), 60.1 thousand for Maranguape (CE) and 64 thousand for Nova Lima (MG).
The amount is sufficient for mass vaccination of the target population in these cities and is part of the 1.3 million doses produced by the Butantan Institute.
Bottled
This is the second time that the municipality of Botucatu has carried out a mass vaccination to evaluate the effectiveness of a vaccine. In May 2021, vaccination against Covid-19 began in the city with a dose of the vaccine produced by the AstraZeneca/Oxford/Fiocruz laboratories. At the time, the vaccination schedule had a positive impact on hospital admissions.
When choosing Botucatu, the Minister of Health explained that he weighed the fact that the state of São Paulo was the unit of the federation that had the most cases of dengue last year and also where there was the highest circulation of dengue type 3.
“As type 3 dengue fever is circulating here, in the state of São Paulo, it is a great opportunity for us to evaluate the impact that this vaccine will have on type 3 dengue fever, on the possibility of quickly controlling dengue fever in the city.”
The city hall provided 28 vaccination points, such as Basic Health Units (UBS) and other vaccination points installed throughout the city and in strategic locations.
To avoid crowds, the recommendation is that people aged 35 to 59 go to their reference health unit in the morning (8am to 12:30pm), and young people aged 15 to 34, in the afternoon (12:30pm to 5pm). Minors under 18 must be accompanied by a legal guardian.
Dengue vaccination sites are available on the Botucatu city hall website.
National vaccine
The Butantan-DV vaccine was approved by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) and protects against the four serotypes of the disease (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4).
The clinical study of the Butantan-DV immunizer proved 74% effective against general cases of dengue, more than 91% against severe cases and 100% against hospitalizations due to dengue. This study was carried out between 2016 and 2024, with more than 16 thousand volunteers living in 14 Brazilian states.
The first single-dose dengue vaccine in the world uses live attenuated virus technology and was developed by the Butantan Institute, based on a partnership organized by the Ministry of Health with the Chinese company WuXi Vaccines.
For people aged 10 to 14, the international QDenga vaccine, made in Japan, continues to be offered, with a two-dose schedule. In this case, vaccination is carried out exclusively in Basic Health Units (UBS), in more than 5,500 Brazilian municipalities.
*Brazil Agency
