Zydus Cadila in Association with Japan's Takeda Pharma to Develop Chikungunya Vaccine


BENGALURU: Zydus Cadila joins hand with Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical to prepare vaccine that will provide immunity against chikungunya. The contract between the companies includes developing the vaccine from the scratch till the final commercialization of the vaccine. The chikungunya virus is transmitted by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes to humans, same species of mosquitoes that spread dengue and zika.  

Presently, there are no specific vaccines for chikungunya. This partnership between Cadila and Takeda Pharmaceutical is all set to improvise the access to medicine in the near future. It has been reported that since 2005, chikungunya virus has affected over 1.9 million people across India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar and Thailand.

This disease is evident within eight to twelve days after the bite of an infected mosquito. Common victims of this disease include newborns infected at the time of birth, older people (over 65 years), and adults with chronic medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease.

Symptoms of this disease include sudden fever, accompanied by joint pains and rash. There are cases where people suffered from headache, fatigue, indigestion and conjunctivitis. Chikungunya is said to cause long-term symptoms followed by acute infections.

The infected persons are usually suggested to drink a lot of fluid contents, taking proper rest and apt medicines to relieve fever and pain until and unless the symptom disappears. There are several methods to measure the level of the disease that includes Serological tests, IgM titers and many more.

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