On November 7, at the "Deploy research on dengue vaccine against dengue fever (SXH) V181" Conference, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Vu Trung - Director of the Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City said that dengue fever is a disease that is circulating all year round, complicated and causes a great burden on public health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), half of the global population lives in areas at risk of dengue virus infection. In 2019, WHO ranked this disease in the top 10 global health problems.
In Vietnam, the southern region is most severely affected, accounting for more than 60% of cases annually. In the first 10 months of 2025 alone, the country recorded more than 135,000 cases and 26 deaths, of which Ho Chi Minh City had over 48,000 cases. Although monitoring and communication have been strengthened, dengue fever is still a big challenge, requiring sustainable solutions, in which vaccination is the most effective direction, Dr. Trung emphasized.
Faced with that reality, the Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City has implemented a multi-national, multi-center clinical trial for the dengue fever vaccine developed by MSD ( Merck & Co., USA). The project is called Mobilize-1, implemented in 6 Southeast Asian countries with 12,000 participants, of which Vietnam has 4,000 people - including children from 2 to 16 years old and adolescents aged 16-17.
The research sites are located in Dong Thap, An Giang and Da Nang. This phase 3 study has been approved by the Ministry of Health and the National Assembly for Ethnic Minorities, playing a decisive role in assessing the protective effect and safety of the vaccine, before being widely applied.
Participants will be consulted, tested and randomly vaccinated with vaccines or fake drugs. They are monitored periodically for 5 years, helping to accurately record disease prevention and related reactions.
This international-scale clinical trial is an important step for Vietnam to contribute to global efforts to control dengue fever. The support of local authorities, health care and people is a key factor to help the study succeed," Dr. Trung affirmed.
