Biography

He completed his doctoral degree in the Department of Pathology at Ilkeston Hospital in the United Kingdom.Yaro's professional training began at the Usman Dan Fodiyo in Sokoto where he received a bachelor's degree in clinical microbiology. He was employed as a chemical pathologist at the Tema General Hospital and then later as a clinical pathologist at both Icon Medical Center and Vis Viva Pharma before moving to the UK to receive a master's of science degree from John Moore University in medical virology.In addition to his scientific interest in infectious diseases, Yaro also devotes a significant portion of his time to public health advocacy. He serves on multiple international committees whose goals are to help effectively manage and/or eradicate TB, malaria and HIV/AIDS. In 2001, Yaro formed the Africa Health Foundation, which joined forces with the World Health Organization's "Stop TB Project."

Abstract

Dengue virus is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the tropics and subtropics. It is transmitted by the mosquitoes Aedes aegypti and A. albopictus. It is still uncontrolled globally with prevention and control depending largely on vector control and good case management. Dengue virus is however expanding rapidly globally with increased frequency and magnitude of outbreaks. As a result about half of the world population lives in dengue affected areas. The WHO estimates that there are 50-100 million dengue infections annually resulting in 500,000 severe dengue cases and around 25,000 dengue-associated deaths. Newer estimates put the number of new dengue infection to about 300 million annually. Based on these estimates, it can be argued that dengue is as important as malaria in terms of morbidity. Still there is no effective antiviral agent for dengue infection. This means developing an effective and affordable dengue vaccine is essential. This paper will discuss some of the latest innovation in dengue vaccine development and based on latest techniques employed in infectious diseases put forward a number of strategies that will help expand the development of dengue vaccine.