• The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Ixchiq, the world’s first chikungunya vaccine.  

• Ixchiq is approved for individuals 18 years of age and older who are at increased risk of exposure to chikungunya virus.

• The vaccine was developed by a French biotech company Valneva.

• Ixchiq is administered as a single dose by injection into the muscle. It contains a live, weakened version of the chikungunya virus and may cause symptoms in the vaccine recipient similar to those experienced by people who have chikungunya disease.

• Infection with chikungunya virus can lead to severe disease and prolonged health problems, particularly for older adults and individuals with underlying medical conditions. 

• The approval of the vaccine addresses an unmet medical need and is an important advancement in the prevention of a potentially debilitating disease with limited treatment options.

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is an agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services. 

• The FDA protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices.

• The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of the country’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.

• Though FDA can trace its origins back to the creation of the Agricultural Division in the Patent Office in 1848, its origins as a federal consumer protection agency began with the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act. This law was the culmination of about 100 bills over a quarter-century that aimed to rein in long-standing, serious abuses in the consumer product marketplace.

Chikungunya

• Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne viral disease caused by the chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an RNA virus in the alphavirus genus of the family Togaviridae. 

• The disease was first recognized in 1952 during an outbreak in southern Tanzania.

• It is an emerging global health threat with at least five million cases of chikungunya virus infection reported during the past 15 years. The highest risk of infection is in tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Southeast Asia, and parts of the Americas where chikungunya virus-carrying mosquitoes are endemic. 

• However, chikungunya virus has spread to new geographical areas causing a rise in global prevalence of the disease. 

• The disease has now been identified in over 110 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. 

• Chikungunya virus is transmitted by female mosquitoes, most commonly Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti and Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus, which can also transmit dengue and Zika viruses. These mosquitoes bite primarily during daylight hours.

• When an uninfected mosquito feeds on a person who has CHIKV circulating in their blood, the mosquito can ingest the virus. The virus then replicates in the mosquito over several days, gets to its salivary glands, and can be transmitted into a new human host when the mosquito bites them. 

• Dengue and Zika have similar symptoms to chikungunya, making chikungunya easy to misdiagnose.

• The main symptoms are abrupt onset of fever, frequently accompanied by severe joint pain. The joint pain is often debilitating and usually lasts for a few days but may be prolonged, lasting for weeks, months or even years. Other common signs and symptoms include joint swelling, muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash.

• Chikungunya virus may be detected directly in blood samples collected during the first week of illness using tests such as reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR).

• Prevention of infection by avoiding mosquito bites is the best protection. Patients suspected of having CHIKV infection should avoid getting mosquito bites during the first week of illness to prevent further transmission to mosquitoes, who may in turn infect other people. 

• Cases of death from chikungunya are very rare and are almost always related to other existing health problems.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store