8 public health history on dengue fever

1. Dengue fever affects more than 400 million people a year across the world, mainly urban areas in tropical and sub-tropical climates.

2. Dengue fever is a leading cause of hospital admissions in most Latin American and Asian countries, says the WHO. Most of the victims are children.

3. The vaccine will be available only to children over the age of nine, and adults under 49 who live in areas where the disease is endemic.

4. Dengue fever vaccines is designed to prevent four types of dengue virus, said Sanofi.

"It's a very important moment in the history of public health," the head of Sanofi Vaccines Division, Olivier Charmeil, told the AFP new agency.

5. The company said it spent more than $1.6bn (£1bn) developing and creating the treatment.

6. The symptoms of dengue fever are similar to those of a severe flu.

7. Dengue fever is transmitted from person to person by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also spreads chikungunya, zika fever and other diseases.

8. The first cases of dengue were registered in the 1950s in Thailand and the Philippines.