RIO DE JANEIRO, June 9 — Brazil said yesterday 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.

“There is not enough data to establish a cause-and-effect link between the vaccine and these three serious cases, but it is a warning signal,” Health Minister Alexandre Padilha told a press conference.

As a precaution, “we have decided to temporarily suspend vaccination,” he added, without elaborating on what would be required for it to be reintroduced.

The minister said the “absolutely unexpected” effects had not been observed during tests on over 16,000 volunteers across 14 Brazilian states.

Those trials had recorded an efficacy rate of 91.6 percent against the most severe form of the disease.

The only other dengue vaccine, TAK-003, requires two doses taken three months apart, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

A single dose can help speed up and simplify mass vaccination campaigns.

Brazil recorded more than 6,000 dengue deaths in 2024 -- nearly half of recorded deaths worldwide—but the situation improved significantly last year. — AFP

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 6 — Global airline chiefs open their annual summit in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday facing a sharper test of the industry’s post-pandemic recovery, as the Iran war drives up fuel costs and disrupts airspace while carriers try ‌to cushion the blow with higher fares and tighter capacity.

The June 6-8 annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) comes as that fuel shock collides with another problem airlines cannot quickly fix: a shortage of new aircraft.

Boeing and Airbus delivery delays have forced many carriers to keep older, less fuel-efficient jets in service for longer, raising maintenance and fuel bills just as oil prices have climbed. IATA, which represents more than 370 airlines accounting for about 85 per cent of global air traffic, had forecast a record US$41 billion in net profit this year for the industry before the war. Industry executives and analysts expect that outlook to be lowered at the meeting.

A Deloitte survey of 21 global airline CEOs published this week found that fuel price volatility and inflation ‌sit at the top of the industry’s risk agenda, pushing carriers to focus more heavily on cost control ⁠and financial health.

“Together, they’ve turned what was supposed to ⁠be a record year into a fight for margin,” the survey said.

Airlines ⁠have two primary costs: fuel and ⁠labour. Sudden increases in fuel ⁠are hard to absorb because many tickets are sold weeks or months before travel. Longer routes also burn more fuel and make aircraft and crews less efficient.

The challenge is how much of the latest fuel hit ⁠can be passed on to travellers before higher fares start to weaken demand.

Fare power

So far, travel demand has held up in several large markets, especially among premium and corporate travelers, giving carriers more room to raise fares.

In the United States, domestic published fares as of May 25 showed robust demand and successful pass-through of higher fuel costs, with one-week-out fares up 35.8 per cent year-on-year and four-week-out fares up 39.4 per cent, according to Raymond James.

“The willingness ⁠to pay over the past few years, crisis and no crisis, from the premium side has been really strong, and we see that strength continuing,” Alexandre Lefevre, Air Canada’s vice president of ⁠network planning and global sales, told Reuters.

Still, there are limits. Higher fares can help airlines recover part of their fuel ⁠bill, but ⁠they also risk pushing out travellers with tighter budgets. That risk is greater in regions where currencies are weak, consumer spending is under pressure or airlines lack the pricing power of large network carriers. Some carriers are still planning for growth. ‌Singapore Airlines is in talks for at least 50 large wide-body jets, while Qantas is weighing an order for about 20 Airbus or Boeing wide-body aircraft, Reuters reported this week. — Reuters

When he arrives at his office in the morning, Rio de Janeiro Police Chief Rita Salim knows that throughout the course of the day, two or three people will come in to report having been a victim of racism. Some will do so after having lived a life of discrimination based on the color of their skin. “Many victims come when they can’t take it any more, the drop that made the cup overflow,” she says in an interview at her office. It’s a sorry state of affairs — but at the same time, there is hope. The veil of silence and shame that historically covered up this kind of discrimination is lifting. Brazil documented more than 7,000 complaints of racism in 2025, 67% more than the year before.

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RIO DE JANEIRO, June 9 — Airlines expect to carry more passengers this year but earn only half as much profit as in 2025, as high fuel prices don’t appear to be fully deterring travel, according to projections published Sunday.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicted its 370 member airlines, which account for 85 per cent of global air traffic, will carry 5.1 billion passengers this year.

That is up 2.4 per cent from 2025, when passenger traffic was estimated to have reached 4.98 billion. The four billion mark was surpassed in 2023.

Asked by reporters about the impact of the war in the Middle East compared to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-2021, IATA Director General Willie Walsh replied: “I don’t see this as a crisis.”

“You’re looking at an industry that is forecasting growth,” he said. “If you extract the impact of the Middle East, we’re looking at growth of 3.5 per cent.”

This growth, however, will be accompanied by profitability only half as strong as last year’s, while Middle Eastern airlines are expected to post losses.

“War-related disruptions in the Middle East and rising fuel costs have shifted the outlook for airlines to the worse,” Walsh said in a statement.

“Profits will shrink from US$45 billion (RM181.4 billion) in 2025 to US$23 billion this year. And margins will shrink from 4.2 per cent to 2.0 per cent,” he said, referring to the net margin.

According to IATA’s calculations, net profit is expected to be US$4.50 per passenger, half the 2025 figure.

“Under the circumstances, that shows resilience. But it won’t even buy you a hot dog at most of the Fifa World Cup venues and it does not leave much of a buffer should other costs or taxes start rising,” Walsh said in the statement.

‘Fuel price shock’ 

With fuel costs rising — and those increases being passed on in part through higher ticket prices — the revenue of IATA member airlines is expected to grow nine per cent this year, reaching US$1.165 trillion.

“Airlines are bearing the brunt of the fuel price shock. While air fares are rising, airlines are still absorbing part of the hike in their bottom lines,” the IATA said.

Profitability will vary across different regions of the world, according to the organization’s projections.

Middle Eastern airlines, which have traditionally had access to an abundant supply of fuel, are expected to face a difficult year, with net margins projected to turn negative.

For these airlines, including Emirates and Qatar Airways, “the immediate recovery path is likely to be driven more by pricing than by a rapid return of volumes,” the IATA said.

European airlines are expected to become the most profitable (3.1 per cent net margin), followed by those in North America (2.5 per cent) and Asia-Pacific (2.1 per cent).

Despite significant geopolitical uncertainty and the inability to predict the duration of the war, the IATA is not worried about demand. It noted that according to its calculations, the average airline ticket price had fallen 26 per cent over the past 10 years. — AFP