Brazil halts dengue vaccine after 2 deaths

Brazil said Monday it was temporarily suspending use of the world’s first single-dose dengue vaccine following two suspicious deaths.

More than half a million people have received doses of the vaccine this year, which was developed publicly in Brazil and approved by health authorities in November.

It is the first single-dose inoculation against the mosquito-borne dengue virus, which can cause high fever, headaches, muscle pain, nausea and rashes and in rare cases is fatal.

Of the 501,044 people vaccinated between January and May, 3,703 -- 0.7 percent -- showed symptoms similar to dengue.

Forty-two people meanwhile had “more severe reactions,” according to the health ministry.

Authorities have recorded three severe cases, including two that resulted in the deaths of a 58-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman.

A 38-year-old woman entered intensive care but has since been discharged.