The Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a $55 million grant to the International Vaccine Institute to support the Pediatric Dengue Vaccine Initiative (PDVI), an international consortium of leading research institutions, public health organizations, and private industry.

Dengue, which is caused by a group of four mosquito-transmitted viruses, infects 50 million to 100 million people in the developing world each year, and is on the rise globally. In its most severe form — dengue hemorrhagic fever — infection can result in shock, hemorrhages, and death. The introduction of a dengue vaccine could prevent more than 500,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths annually, primarily among children. The grant will enable PDVI to quickly move promising candidate vaccines into clinical trials and conduct research to ensure the safety of the candidate vaccines.

"Although dengue incidence is on the rise in nearly one hundred countries around the world, its prevalence mainly in the poorest countries has been a deterrent to progress," said Dr. Regina Rabinovich, director of the foundation's Infectious Diseases program. "Promising candidates can be evaluated and offer hope that one day this disease will no longer threaten in the developing world."