TGA approves Qdenga dengue fever vaccine for Australia

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) recently approved the dengue fever vaccine, Qdenga, for use in Australia (8 April 2026).

This approval is the first step in making it widely available through the private market in Australia. Currently, it is only available under Australia's Special Access Scheme (SAS). It is not available on private prescription. There are 2 other important steps to go.

One of these is a statement from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI).

ATAGI was much in the news during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Advisory Group will decide on indications for use and their recommendations will then be found in the Australian Immunisation Handbook.

The final step will be at a state level.

Each Australian state regulates the way a vaccine or medication is available under their jurisdiction. Some states are more restrictive (Western Australia) than others.

Pharmacy's role in widening access

Vaccines, if available, are an important part of any strategy on disease prevention.

In the UK, the vaccine is widely available through private prescription. It is mostly provided through general practice and travel clinics, but some pharmacies are also able to dispense and give.

Over the last one to two years the role of pharmacy in the dispensing and administering travel vaccines has greatly improved community access to information and protection. It is particularly important in regional areas where general practice is under extreme pressure to provide just basic services. Pharmacy now has a greater role in primary care prevention. It will be interesting to see pharmacy's role in providing community access to the new vaccine.

The whole process from registration to community availability can take months, so we are unlikely to see the vaccine available until late in 2026.

Where Qdenga is already approved overseas

Indonesia was the first country in the world to grant approval for the use of Qdenga (August 2022). Approval quickly followed in the European Union (December 2022), the United Kingdom (February 2023), Brazil and Thailand (mid 2023). It is currently registered in more than 41 countries globally. Brazil has since gone a step further, rolling out the vaccine through its national immunisation program.

Many travellers and expatriate workers have already received the vaccine in Australia through the Special Access scheme (SAS). Others have managed to source it overseas, particularly in Indonesia and Thailand.

How Qdenga works, dosing and safety profile

Qdenga is a live attenuated vaccine. It is based on a "backbone" of the dengue serotype 2 virus and includes genetic material from all four dengue virus serotypes. More than 60,000 individuals have participated in trials in Latin America and Asia since 2016.

It is recommended from 4 years of age and given in a 2-dose schedule with a 3-month interval between doses. Protection is present from 14 days. The length of protection is yet to be defined but likely more than 4 years. Booster doses have not yet been defined.

A protective efficacy of over 61% has been found (4+ years follow up) for virologically identified dengue fever and 84% for hospitalisation. (The protective efficacy is greater for those who have had a previous dengue fever infection.

Boosting after 4 years provided a modest benefit for continued dengue fever protection but more than 90% for hospitalisation.

The vaccine has a good safety profile with injection site discomfort (50%), headache (35%), muscle aches and pains (31%), tiredness (24%) and fever (11%) mentioned. These reactions are common to many other vaccinations. Side effects are more likely after the first dose than the second.

The vaccine cannot be given to women who are pregnant or breast feeding. It should also be avoided in those with congenital or acquired immune deficiency.

The product information can be sourced through the TGA website.

WHO prequalification and the global dengue burden

The World Health Organisation has placed Qdenga on a list of "Prequalified vaccines" where it might be used in public health programs to reduce the risk of serious disease. We've previously written about how dengue is now appearing in unexpected places alongside WHO's evolving position on vaccine use.

According to WHO, more than 3.5 billion people live in dengue prone regions. In 2023 it reported more than 4.5 million cases and over 2,000 deaths.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) recently published (April 2026) a dengue fever disease notification rate per country for 2023. Of interest in our region were the number of cases for Thailand (577), and Indonesia (166). The report also noted cases from 78 countries in the 3 months, December 2025 to February 2026.

Dengue cases in Australian travellers

Dengue fever is a known serious health risk for many popular travel destinations for Australian travellers. Healthy Travel has written extensively on this topic over the last 2 years.

One thousand, five hundred and eighty-nine individuals have been diagnosed with dengue fever in Australia over the 12 months to April 12, 2026. The number for the last quarter is less than the same quarter last year but higher than the five-year average. What is most interesting is the number of cases from Western Australia and what factors might be present to explain these numbers.

Dengue fever is a notifiable disease in Australia and according to our newly developed Centre for Disease Control, the dengue fever rate for all of Australia is approximately 7 per 100,000 population. In Western Australia the rate was double the national average for 2025 and almost 18 per 100,000 in 2024. These are not cases of dengue fever contracted in northwest Australia! These are most likely travellers to Bali and regional Indonesia (surfers).

It is highly likely the West Australian cases just reflect what is happening in the rest of Australia. It is the ease of travel to Indonesia that inflates the numbers for Western Australia. In addition, many FIFO workers have bases in Indonesia and work in regional Australia where they might be diagnosed.

It is also possible that fewer people seek disease prevention travel health advice through pharmacy in Western Australia as most pharmacists are unable to provide a range of travel vaccines.

Some pharmacies provide travel vaccines with nurse practitioners.

Hopefully these access issues will change in the future.

How dengue spreads and how to prevent it

Dengue fever is a vector-borne disease. The virus is transmitted to humans by a mosquito bite. Humans are the only known reservoir of infection.

Outbreaks of dengue are not uncommon in the months following peak wet season.

Residual water in an urban environment provides good breeding sites (empty rubbish cans, pot plant saucers and ponds) for the mainly urban mosquito, aedes aegypti.

Public health interventions are mostly aimed at communicating mosquito avoidance health messages to individuals at risk (including travellers) and reducing breeding sites at a local level.

Travellers should be reminded of the risk of dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases when travelling to areas of risk. This may even include northern Australia. Recent outbreaks in popular travel destinations, including the dengue fever outbreak in Samoa and the surge in cases across Bangladesh, underscore this ongoing risk.

For more information, see our guide to mosquito avoidance measures.

Should travellers be vaccinated against dengue?

Vaccination for dengue fever is now a possibility for some travellers. It should certainly be considered in those who have had a previous documented bout of dengue fever. It might also be a consideration for expatriate workers and for those who have lived for long periods of time in an endemic area.

A recommendation should be made on a case-by-case basis once a supply as been established in Australia.