Sanofi's dengue vaccine approved in 11 countries

Sept. 16, 2015: A vegetable vendor, right watches as a municipal worker, left, arrives to fumigate a residential area to prevent mosquitoes from breeding in New Delhi, India. (AP)

PARIS – Sanofi Pasteur, Sanofi's vaccines unit, said on Tuesday that its dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, had received market approval in eleven countries.

To date the vaccine has been approved in Mexico, the Philippines, Brazil, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Guatemala, Peru, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, the statement said.

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease caused by four virus serotypes (1 to 4) as categorized by the World Health Organisation. Overall, the disease is seen as a threat to about half of the world's population. Some 400 million people are believed to be infected annually.