(Reuters) -UK’s medicine regulator said on Monday it has temporarily restricted the use of French vaccine maker Valneva’s shot to treat chikungunya, a virus transmitted by mosquitoes, in people aged 65 and above as a precautionary measure.
The vaccine, IXCHIQ, was approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in February to protect people aged 18 years and above against chikungunya, but is not yet available in the UK market.
“The decision to restrict the licence until further review is based on global data which has highlighted 23 cases of serious adverse reactions, including two cases reporting a fatal outcome, in people aged from 62 to 89 years of age who received the vaccine,” the regulator said.
The adverse events were reported in the French overseas territory of La Reunion, where a chikungunya outbreak was reported earlier this year.
MHRA’s decision comes after the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in May suspended the use of the vaccine in the age group.
The French Government was the first to take the step in April.
(Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
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