Going home to Sri Lanka? What to know about dengue and the new vaccine
Sri Lanka has passed 100,000 dengue cases this year. For the first time, people in Australia can be vaccinated before they fly. Here’s who it’s for, and how to plan around it.
Every trip home comes with a list: gifts for the cousins, the aunties to visit, the long drive from Katunayake. This year there is one more thing worth adding, and it needs to be done months before the suitcase comes out.
Sri Lanka has passed 100,000 dengue cases this year. And since this month, Australians have a dengue vaccine they can get from their own GP.
Gampaha alone has recorded 21,377 cases, the most of any district, according to figures from the National Dengue Control Unit.
The vaccine
The vaccine is called Qdenga. The Therapeutic Goods Administration registered it in April for people aged four and over, and its maker, Takeda, announced on 1 October that it is now available in Australia. It is on private prescription, through your GP or a travel clinic, and it is not on the National Immunisation Program, so you will pay for it. Ask what it costs when you book.
Who should get it
Australia’s immunisation advisers, ATAGI, set out who it’s for in a statement published on 24 September.
A “likely history” means something like a dengue-type illness during a trip or within two weeks of coming home. ATAGI says a blood test to check for past dengue isn’t routinely recommended. People living with HIV who are not immunocompromised can have it. Takeda adds that safety and effectiveness haven’t been established in people over 60. The trial that measured protection was done in children; there are no efficacy figures for adults, but ATAGI says adults’ immune response to the vaccine is similar.
Timing matters
Because the doses are at least 12 weeks apart, it is already too late to fit both in before Christmas. For the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April, the first dose needs to be in by mid-January. If you can only fit in one dose before you fly, ATAGI says to have it anyway: in the trial, in children, one dose was 82% effective against lab-confirmed dengue in the three months before the second. That is not a guarantee for adults, and both doses are still needed for the fullest protection. Make a plan for the second dose, either when you’re back or with a vaccination provider in Sri Lanka, if one can give it, when it’s due.
The vaccine isn’t the whole answer
The mosquitoes that carry dengue, Aedes aegypti, bite mainly during the day, not just at dusk. The World Health Organization advises:
- repellent with DEET, picaridin or IR3535
- clothing that covers as much of your body as possible
- screens or nets, including for daytime naps
- emptying anything that holds water around the house you’re staying in, once a week
Smartraveller says the risk of mosquito-borne illness is higher in the wetter months: May to October in the south-west, including Colombo, and December to March in the north-east.
If you get sick
Symptoms usually start four to 10 days after the bite: a high fever, a bad headache, pain behind the eyes, aching muscles and joints, and sometimes a rash. The WHO advises paracetamol for fever and pain, not ibuprofen or aspirin, which can make bleeding more likely.
Get help straight away if the fever drops but you feel worse: severe stomach pain, vomiting that won’t stop, bleeding gums or nose, or fast breathing. Back in Australia, tell your doctor where you’ve been.
The Conversation has also reported on the vaccine for travellers. Sources: ATAGI statement on the clinical use of the dengue vaccine Qdenga for Australians, 24 September 2026; Takeda Australia, QDENGA now available in Australia, 1 October 2026; National Dengue Control Unit figures, reported by The Morning, 4 October 2026; WHO dengue fact sheet; Smartraveller: Sri Lanka. This is general information, not medical advice: talk to your GP.