首支登革热疫苗被准在菲律宾销售

The Philippines became the first Asian country on Tuesday to approve the sale of the world's first-ever dengue vaccine.

本周四，菲律宾宣布成为亚洲第一个批准全球首支登革热疫苗销售的国家。

Dengvaxia, manufactured by French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, secured its first regulatory approval in Mexico a fortnight ago and is currently being reviewed by around 20 countries in Asia and Latin America.

两周前，由法国制药巨头赛诺菲研发的Dengvaxia在墨西哥获得批准通过，并且在近期由20个亚洲和拉丁美洲国家审核。

It is hoped the drug could eventually help prevent millions of deaths from dengue, the world's fastest-growing mosquito-borne disease.

人们希望这种药物最终能够帮助上百万人脱离登革热的死亡威胁。登革热是世界上扩散速度最快的蚊媒疾病。

The World Health Organization says as many as 400 million people are infected worldwide every year, and two-thirds are in Asia.

世界卫生组织表示，全球每年都有4亿人感染登革热，其中三分之二的患者是来自亚洲。

"It's a major step in the prevention of dengue and for public health," Olivier Charmeil, head of Sanofi's vaccines division, said in a statement.

赛诺菲疫苗事业部的部长Olivier Charmeil在声明中写道：“这是预防登革热和维护公共健康的重要一步。”

Scientists have long been stumped by dengue, which has four separate strains, forcing researchers to find a drug able to fight all of them at once.

科学家们曾长期为登革热所困惑。登革热有四种分离的菌株，这迫使研究人员去寻找能够一次杀灭所有菌株的药物。

Clinical tests -- carried out on 40,000 people from 15 countries -- have found Dengvaxia can immunise two-thirds of people aged nine years and older, rising to 93 percent for the more severe form of the disease, dengue haemorrhagic fever.

来自15个国家的4万人参与的临床测试发现，Dengvaxia能够让三分之二九十岁甚至更年长的人对登革热免疫，使他们有93%的几率不会患上登革出血热。登革出血热是登革热中最严重的一种。