Trial: Dengue shot offers some protection

The most advanced vaccine for dengue only offers modest protection but could still help millions of people avoid the devastating effects of the disease known as “breakbone fever,” according to a large trial. There is no treatment for dengue, which causes symptoms including fever, severe joint pain, headaches and bleeding. About half the world’s population is at risk from the mosquito-borne disease, which sickens about 100 million people every year, mostly in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Results from an early trial of the vaccine in 2012 found the vaccine’s efficacy was 33 percent and that it failed to protect against one type of dengue; there are four distinct kinds and the vaccine is meant to fight all of them. In the latest study, conducted in more than 10,000 children aged 2 to 14 in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam, the shot’s efficacy improved to 56 percent. Most common vaccines like...