Vaccination models and optimal control strategies to dengue

•We investigate the usefulness of a hypothetical dengue vaccine with different efficacies and different ways of distribution.•Eradication success is shown to depend on the efficacy of vaccine as well as on the vaccination coverage.•We show how a vaccine reduces morbidity and, simultaneously, the budget related with the dengue disease.•Simulations cover both epidemic and endemic scenarios.•Optimal control policies are proposed to minimize the cost of interventions.

As the development of a dengue vaccine is ongoing, we simulate an hypothetical vaccine as an extra protection to the population. In a first phase, the vaccination process is studied as a new compartment in the model, and different ways of distributing the vaccines investigated: pediatric and random mass vaccines, with distinct levels of efficacy and durability. In a second step, the vaccination is seen as a control variable in the epidemiological process. In both cases, epidemic and endemic scenarios are included in order to analyze distinct outbreak realities.