Newer Vaccines against Mosquito-borne Diseases: Correspondence

Excerpt

To the Editor: The article entitled “Newer Vaccines against Mosquito-borne Diseases” published in IJP is very interesting [1]. Aggarwal and Garg summarized and discussed on many interesting new vaccines (dengue vaccine, malaria vaccine, etc.) against mosquito-borne diseases. Indeed, the new available licensed vaccines can be a hope for prevention of mosquito-borne diseases. However, there are some additional issues that should be mentioned. First, for all new vaccines, the safety is a big consideration. Although the new vaccine has been approved and licensed, close monitoring of post marketing surveillance data is required. Second, the use in pediatric population requires additional studies. There are still many myths regarding pediatric vaccination. “What is the best time to use the vaccine?” is usually a common question for the pediatrician. Also, the effectiveness and safety is still questionable. Some available vaccines at present are not recommended for very young pediatric population. The yellow fever vaccine is the best example [2]. Finally, the cost of the new vaccine is an important consideration. Regarding the new vaccine against Zika virus infection, it seems that the cost of the newly developed and expected to be launched vaccine, might be very high and thus becomes a discussed issue in public health [3]. …