AIIMS symposium to focus on efficacy of dengue vaccine in India

New Delhi: A symposium by AIIMS in collaboration with France which began here today will focus on the efficacy dengue vaccine in India.

The two-day symposium 'AIIMS-FAM Dengue, Zika and Chikunganya', is being held in collaboration with The Fondation de l?Acadamie de Medecine (FAM-Medical Academy Foundation) of France.

"The conference will also focus on areas like virology, epidemiology and expansion of diseases, scientific advance on diagnosis and care and prevention and control of diseases," AIIMS Director, Randeep Guleria said.

Experts from Philippines and Brazil, countries where the vaccine has been launched, will participate in the symposium to share their success stories.

"The symposium is being held at an appropriate time, especially when the risk of dengue and chikungunya is round the corner with the monsoon coming up. Therefore, we not only need to be prepared, but also see how we can move forward in areas of research, prevention and management of these diseases," Gularia said.

He said India goes through the same cycle of dengue outbreak every year even as there is a surge in such cases.

"And then we forget about it once the monsoon is over," he lamented.

The AIIMS director stressed on the need for developing preventive strategy like identifying and treating high-risk individuals.

(With PTI inputs)