Dengue fever represents one of the most widely spread arthropod-borne diseases worldwide. According to recent estimates there are approximately 390 million cases annually.
In addition dengue fever is a major cause of mortality in paediatric population living in endemic areas, thus the development of vaccine is highly encouraged. Despite the fact that there is no licensed vaccine available, there are several vaccine candidates in development: live attenuated tetravalent and monovalent, tetravalent chimeric, attenuated, recombinant subunit and DNA vaccines.
A tetravalent chimeric vaccine (ChimeriVax-Dengue) has entered into phase III clinical trials. The vaccine candidates are intended for use primarily in children living in endemic areas, thus there will be probably no vaccine available for travellers in the near future.