Washington: Chikungunya vaccine approved. The US Department of Health has approved the world’s first chikungunya vaccine. Valneva company has developed a vaccine against this mosquito-borne viral disease. The name given to the wax is X-Chic. The vaccine is initially given to people over 18 years of age.
It is a single dose drug given as an injection into the muscle. The safety of the vaccine was confirmed after a two-phase clinical trial in North America. The trial was conducted on 3,500 people aged 18 years and above.
The Food and Drug Administration has designated chikungunya as an ’emerging global health threat’. Although not fatal, the disease can be serious for people with weakened immune systems. Chicken Gunia’s African name means bent over, bent over in pain. The disease is spread by female mosquitoes of the species Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.
