New England Journal of Medicine: Preventing Dengue — Is the Possibility Now a Reality?
Stephen Thomas of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research

“Dengue is a mosquito-borne flaviviral illness that is endemic in the tropics and subtropics. … Although mortality is relatively lower than that for other tropical infectious diseases, the scale of human suffering and economic resources that are expended to control dengue makes it a major global public health problem. … After decades of attempts to develop a dengue vaccine, the results of a phase 3 efficacy trial that are now described in the Journal are a milestone. … The efficacy trial by Villar et al. shows that we can protect populations from dengue disease and perhaps even reduce the proportion of patients with severe disease. Although the available results are not broadly generalizable across diverse populations, a foundation for additional studies has been laid. … For now, practitioners should remain optimistic that one day it will be possible to prevent dengue” (11/3).