Brazil will launch a vaccination campaign against dengue fever in February as a sharp rise in cases of the potentially deadly disease has raised fears of an outbreak, AFP reported, citing the country's authorities.

Brazil, which approved the new Qdenga vaccine in December, will become the first country in the world to offer it through the public health system, officials said.

However, the number of doses available remains limited due to a supply shortage by the vaccine's developer, Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda, Brazil's health ministry said.

"The first shipment of 750,000 doses of dengue vaccine has arrived in Brazil," the ministry said in a statement.

In total, Brazil expects to receive 6.5 million doses of the two-component vaccine aimed at children this year.

Last year, the World Health Organization recommended administering Qdenga to children aged six to 16 in dengue outbreaks.

The European Union, Indonesia and Thailand have also approved the vaccine.

Last year, the number of dengue cases in Brazil increased 57 percent from 2022. And in the first two weeks of 2024, 56,000 cases were reported in the country, double the number in 2023.

Six people have died from the disease in Brazil this year.

According to WHO, mosquito-borne dengue, which causes hemorrhagic fever, affects between 100 million and 400 million people each year, although most cases are mild or asymptomatic.