Dengue vaccines: Current landscape, challenges, and future directions

Dengue imposes a heavy and growing public-health burden across tropical and subtropical regions. Despite decades of research, development of a safe, effective, and universally applicable dengue vaccine has proven difficult due to the virus’s complex immunopathology particularly antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE). Two vaccines CYD-TDV (Dengvaxia) and TAK-003 (Qdenga) have reached licensure, each with unique advantages and limitations. Numerous candidates based on live-attenuated, subunit, virus-like particle, vector, and nucleic-acid platforms remain under development. This review provides a comprehensive update on the dengue vaccine landscape, immunological challenges, trial outcomes, implementation policies, and future directions. Tables 1 and 2 summarize licensed vaccines and emerging candidates, respectively. The review emphasizes the need for integrated approaches that combine vaccination, vector control, genomic surveillance, and public-trust building to mitigate dengue risk, especially in mass-gathering settings.