26-7-2023 (HANOI) The Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City has reported the completion of the third trial of a vaccine against hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) in Vietnam. According to local media reports on Wednesday, the vaccine is now waiting for official approval.
Deputy Director of the Institute’s Clinical Research Unit, Nguyen Trong Toan, stated that there were no recorded cases of HFMD among the children who received the vaccine. He added that the vaccine has a protective efficacy of 96.8% against the disease caused by the Non-Mouse-Adapted Enterovirus 71 (EV71) strain, which is the most dangerous strain of the virus that causes HFMD with a high risk of death.
Toan also mentioned that researchers have not detected any post-vaccination anaphylaxis, while 30% witnessed some typical reactions such as swelling or redness at the injection point, similar to any other vaccine. Based on the clinical trial results, the production unit submitted a dossier to the Ministry of Health for approval. If approved, this will be the first HFMD vaccine in Vietnam against the EV71 strain.
The third clinical trial was conducted on 3,049 children aged two months to six years from 2019 to 2021, according to the newspaper Vietnam News.
