本周四，菲律宾宣布成为亚洲第一个批准全球首支登革热疫苗销售的国家。
The Philippines became the first Asian country on Tuesday to approve the sale of the world's first-ever dengue vaccine.
两周前，由法国制药巨头赛诺菲研发的Dengvaxia在墨西哥获得批准通过，并且在近期由20个亚洲和拉丁美洲国家审核。
Dengvaxia, manufactured by French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, secured its first regulatory approval in Mexico a fortnight ago and is currently being reviewed by around 20 countries in Asia and Latin America.
人们希望这种药物最终能够帮助上百万人脱离登革热的死亡威胁。登革热是世界上扩散速度最快的蚊媒疾病。
It is hoped the drug could eventually help prevent millions of deaths from dengue, the world's fastest-growing mosquito-borne disease.
世界卫生组织表示，全球每年都有4亿人感染登革热，其中三分之二的患者是来自亚洲。
The World Health Organization says as many as 400 million people are infected worldwide every year, and two-thirds are in Asia.
赛诺菲疫苗事业部的部长Olivier Charmeil在声明中写道：“这是预防登革热和维护公共健康的重要一步。”
"It's a major step in the prevention of dengue and for public health," Olivier Charmeil, head of Sanofi's vaccines division, said in a statement.
科学家们曾长期为登革热所困惑。登革热有四种分离的菌株，这迫使研究人员去寻找能够一次杀灭所有菌株的药物。
Scientists have long been stumped by dengue, which has four separate strains, forcing researchers to find a drug able to fight all of them at once.
来自15个国家的4万人参与的临床测试发现，Dengvaxia能够让三分之二九十岁甚至更年长的人对登革热免疫，使他们有93%的几率不会患上登革出血热。登革出血热是登革热中最严重的一种。
Clinical tests -- carried out on 40,000 people from 15 countries -- have found Dengvaxia can immunise two-thirds of people aged nine years and older, rising to 93 percent for the more severe form of the disease, dengue haemorrhagic fever.