Around 4,000 children aged 2-17 to participate in the third-phase dengue vaccine trial (Illustration: Shutterstock)
According to Associate Professor Dr Nguyen Vu Trung, Director of the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, vaccinations will take place at Cai Lay General Hospital, Dong Thap General Hospital in Dong Thap Province, Kien Giang Obstetrics and Paediatrics Hospital in An Giang, and Quang Nam Maternity and Paediatrics Hospital in Danang.
The vaccination stage is scheduled to begin in December, followed by a five-year follow-up through 2030. Participants will undergo medical consultations and laboratory tests, and those meeting criteria will be randomly assigned to receive a single dose of V181 or a placebo.
Final efficacy results are expected after five years, potentially providing an additional global tool to prevent dengue.
The Mobilize 1 study aims to recruit 12,000 children across six Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand.
The Ministry of Health reported more than 135,000 dengue cases and 26 deaths in the first 10 months of 2025. Vietnam records about 100,000 cases annually, making it one of the region’s worst-affected countries, with hotspots in Dong Thap, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Tay Ninh and An Giang.
According to Vo Thanh Nhon, Director of the Dong Thap Centre for Disease Control, infections in the province rose sharply from 1,004 in 2024 to 2,510 by September 30 2025. Outbreak clusters were five times higher than a year earlier, reflecting dengue’s typical three-year transmission cycle.
