The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has approved the world’s first vaccine for chikungunya, which it called an “emerging global health threat”.
- The vaccine named Ixchiq has been approved for those aged 18 and above and are at high risk of contracting the disease.
- It was developed by Europe’s Valneva.
- The vaccine is injected in one dose and contains a live, weakened version of the chikungunya virus, as is standard with other vaccines.
About chikungunya
- Since chikungunya was first identified in Tanzania in 1952, it has been recorded in more than 110 countries.
- Chikungunya is a virus spread by infected mosquitoes. It is a ribonucleic acid (RNA) virus that belongs to the alphavirus genus of the family Togaviridae.
- The name “chikungunya” derives from a word in the Kimakonde language of southern Tanzania.
- It causes fever and joint pains and can be fatal to newborns. Other symptoms include rashes, headaches and muscle pain. Joint pains can persist for months or even years.
- Symptoms can sometimes last for months or even years, but the virus is rarely fatal.
- There is currently no specific drug to treat chikungunya.
- People in tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Southeast Asia, and parts of the Americas are at the highest risk of infection because mosquitos carrying the chikungunya virus are endemic in these areas.
- Chikungunya can be passed from a pregnant person to their unborn child, and the virus can be fatal to newborns.
