A 44-year-old woman from Tlajomulco has become the first fatality from dengue fever in Jalisco in 2015. The woman was diabetic and received treatment at an IMSS clinic in the municipality, state health authorities said.
A recent surge in dengue has taken the number of reported cases above the number recorded at the same time last year – to 1,146 by October 10. In 2014, two people died in Jalisco after contracting dengue, a virus transmitted by mosquitos.
Health Secretary Jaime Agustin Gonzalez Alvarez still hopes that Jalisco will be the first state in Mexico to apply the new dengue vaccine developed by Sanofi.
Sanofi spent 20 years and more than US$1.5 billion in researching and developing the vaccine. It expects it to be licensed in 20 countries by the end of the year, although probably not in the United States or Europe. The green light to whether the vaccine can be given in Mexico rests with the nation’s FDA equivalent, the Comisión Federal para la Protección contra Riesgos Sanitarios (Cofepris).