LAHORE (Daily Point) – Amid the increasing threat of dengue fever, which currently lacks specific treatments, Johnson & Johnson has unveiled promising findings from a small human challenge trial for their innovative antiviral pill.

Dengue fever is a prevalent disease, causing millions of infections and tens of thousands of deaths annually, particularly in Asia and Latin America.

In this trial, ten volunteers received a high dosage of J&J’s pill five days prior to controlled exposure to the dengue virus. Following exposure, they continued taking the pill for 21 days. Encouragingly, six of the participants exhibited no trace of the dengue virus in their bloodstream, and they showed no signs of an immune response to the virus over a monitoring period spanning 85 days.

This advancement is groundbreaking as it introduces the first specific treatment for dengue fever. The pill functions by inhibiting the activity of two crucial viral proteins, effectively preventing the virus from replicating itself.

While the trial results are promising, the next phase involves assessing the pill’s efficacy as a treatment option. The accessibility of this novel drug, should it prove effective on a larger scale, raises concerns, particularly in regions with low- and middle-income populations where dengue is prevalent.

This development echoes the challenges faced by the recently endorsed dengue vaccine by the World Health Organization. Johnson & Johnson is actively working on addressing these accessibility issues, although it is still in the early stages of development.

Given the potential for the spread of dengue due to climate change, the need to develop effective treatments becomes increasingly urgent.