The European Medical Agency (EMA) has announced that it will sell 31 May to the first vaccine product in Europe against the Chikungunya virus, transmitted to men by the tiger moustique, warning that the climatic change will favor the spread of the illness.
Chikungunya virus infection (abbreviated CHIKV) is a disease similar to dengue fever and that caused by the Zika virus, causing patients to experience symptoms such as high fever and often debilitating joint damage.
A Valneva vaccine
The EMA has given marketing authorization to the Ixchiq vaccine produced by the European company Valneva Austria, the last step before authorization from the European Commission.
The vaccine, which comes in a single dose, stimulates the body to produce neutralizing antibodies 28 days after its administration to people over 18 years of age.
The protection offered by the vaccine lasts six months after the dose is administered. The disease caused by the virus mainly affects populations living “in tropical and subtropical regions,” the EMA stressed.
“Sporadic incidents”
“Chikungunya is not endemic in Europe,” as most patients were infected during travel outside the European continent, the Amsterdam-based agency notes.
The EMA reports “sporadic incidents of onward transmission by infected travelers upon their return, mainly in southern Europe.” The spread of the mosquito vector of the chikungunya virus “due to climate change could lead to the appearance of cases of chikungunya in regions that were not previously affected,” warns the EMA.
There is currently no treatment for chikungunya, which means “bent man” disease in Kimakonde, a language spoken in Tanzania and Mozambique, a phrase that evokes the very intense joint pain that affects patients.
An example of the impact of global warming
CHIKV was identified in Tanzania in 1952 and is now distributed in 110 countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe, according to the World Health Organization.
Brazil has suffered chikungunya outbreaks in several regions, reporting more than 160,000 cases in the first quarter of 2024, the EMA said. “The majority of countries reporting a large number of cases… are located in South and Central America,” according to the Agency.
“The increase in cases of diseases transmitted by vectors and mosquitoes such as chikungunya is a clear example of the impact of climate change on health, warned the EMA.
Source: BFM TV
