Port St. Lucie scientists to work on dengue fever vaccine

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - At the Port St. Lucie laboratory of VGTI , scientists hope to unravel the mysteries surrounding dengue fever: What brought this disease to South Florida for the first time in decades, and how best to fight it.

"It is a virus similar to the hepatitis virus, to the yellow fever virus," said Dr. Rafick Sekaly.

Sekaly heads up the lab’s research into dengue.

It is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. He says the virus is most common in South and Central America and in Southeast Asia where mosquito populations run high.

"We kind of expected that the virus would move up north and that’s exactly what’s happening," he said.

Scientists speculate climate change has caused mosquito populations to move and the disease to spread.

This year infection rates in the Caribbean have nearly doubled – with 3 deaths reported in French Guyana. The outbreak in the Florida Keys - though widespread, has not been as severe.

"Because their immune system is able to control it and that’s a very good thing," he said.

Sekaly wants to learn what leads some people to die from dengue and others to resist it, and why people who contract dengue for a second time often have a much more severe case.

He plans to study the immune response to the virus in hopes of developing a vaccine.

"We’re just getting started. Because of what we’ve done with other viruses like HIV we’re in a good position to help," he said.

He expects the dengue epidemic will become more intense as it moves farther north.

He says good surveillance from health departments can help contain the disease, as we saw with the outbreak of H1N1 last year.

Dr. Sekaly expects his lab will start testing samples of dengue infections from Florida and Guyana in the next 4-6 weeks. He’s optimistic they can develop a vaccine within 2 years.