Federal health officials are warning seniors to skip a vaccine often given to travelers to prevent a dangerous mosquito-borne illness.
In a health alert, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said people 60 years of age and older should skip getting Valneva-developed Ixchiq vaccine used to protect against chikungunya, a tropical disease.
Outbreaks of chikungunya linked to mosquitoes have been reported in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and can be spread to unaffected areas by infected travelers.
People can become infected with the chikungunya virus when mosquitoes feed on another infected person and then bite them. According to the CDC, roughly 100-200 cases of chikungunya are reported annually among U.S. travelers.
Vaccine warning
The CDC recommends the vaccine pause while it investigates “serious adverse events,” including neurologic and cardiac events. As of May 7, 17 serious events, including two deaths, have been reported in people ages 62 to 89 who received the Ixchiq vaccine. Six of the reports have been in the U.S.
About 80,000 doses of Ixchiq have been distributed globally and the CDC said the most serious issues have been in people with underlying chronic conditions. Some of the reactions included severe chikungunya-like symptoms, such as fever and joint pain, headaches, muscle pain, joint swelling and rashes that lasted as long as 30 days.
The FDA said it is conducting a risk assessment related to the vaccine for people ages 60 and older.
Ixchiq was first approved in late 2023 for people age 18 and older who are at greater risk for the chikungunya virus, typically due to travel in impacted areas. The vaccine contains a live, weakened version of the virus and disclosures on the vaccine indicate it can cause symptoms similar to the disease.
