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Dengue fever is one of the deadliest virus on Earth, affecting 400 million people per year. But it’s only now that a company will be releasing a vaccine against the disease, after it was cleared for use in Mexico.

“It’s a very important moment in the history of public health,” said Sanofi vaccines division head Olivier Charmeil, who added that the French company’s drug Dengvaxia as the “innovation of the decade.” He believes that this vaccine could be a “blockbuster” and can create more than a billion dollars of revenue for the pharmaceutical company.

Sanofi has been working on the development of Dengvaxia since 1995, having spent more than €1.5 billion (US$1.6 billion) in the process. Dengue fever affects 50 to 100 million people a year, according to World Health Organization figures. Although the mortality rate for the disease is lower than some other viruses, at 2.5 percent, the virus can cause an Ebola-like disease called dengue hemorrhagic fever, which has a much higher mortality rate of 20 percent if left untreated.

“We are waiting for more registrations in Asia and Latin America in the coming weeks,” Charmeil confirmed, saying that Sanofi Pasteur has requested authorization to release the dengue vaccine in 20 nations. Currently, several million doses are scheduled to ship out, with a stockpile for the European Union due early next year and one for the United States in 2017. Production is expected to hit 100 million doses in about two years from now.

Based on clinical tests, Dengvaxia is capable of making about two-thirds of people aged nine and above immune to dengue, with that rate climbing to 93 percent for dengue hemorrhagic fever. Hospitalization risk was also shown to decline by 80 percent.

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Chipotle is in hot water again, but this time, it might not be because of the E. coli virus blamed for previous hospitalizations after eating at the restaurant chain’s outlets.

Earlier this week, a spokesman of the restaurant said that it “(does) not have any evidence” to suggest that the case of food poisoning that affected 30 Boston College students was connected to the controversial  E. coli outbreak that government health officials have linked to Chipotle. Prior to the Boston College incident, 52 people in nine states fell ill to E. coli, with 47 of them claiming they ate at the Mexican restaurant chain before becoming sick.

As of Monday, 30 Boston College students, including eight men’s basketball team players had fallen sick to gastrointestinal symptoms after eating at Chipotle, though newer reports put that total at 80, or almost 30 more people than the previous count from the E. coli outbreak. Chipotle has since closed its Cleveland Circle restaurant in Boston, and had subsequently elaborated that the students fell victim to an isolated norovirus case.

Chipotle shares slipped by 6.4 percent on Monday, and are still taking a beating in the stock market, having fallen another 2.31 percent to $540.92 as of 2:38 p.m. The company also expects to suffer its first quarterly decline in sales since going public in 2006.

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Despite the massive press relations debacle Chipotle is facing following a series of E. coli outbreaks, the fast food chain has remained steadfast behind its so-called “diarrhea burrito.”

For the past few months, Chipotle has been under the radar, with federal authorities investigating a pathogenic E. coli strain, which has now affected 52 people across nine states, with 47 of these individuals saying they ate at Chipotle right before they fell sick. Affected states include California, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington, and as of this writing, the source of the E. coli outbreak has not yet been spotted.

Meanwhile, Chipotle shares have taken a huge hit in the stock market, losing almost 8 percent to $518 in extended Friday trading, after the company said that sales at established outlets may drop 8 to 11 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter, thus marking its first such decline. Investigators have also cautioned that the outbreak may cover even more states, as local agencies continue working closely with the U.S. government.  Chipotle has pledged to tighten safety protocols, though the company, according to several reports, is still selling the “diarrhea burrito” despite its unpopularity among consumers.

Symptoms of E. coli infections include abdominal cramps, fever, diarrhea, and vomiting, and in few cases, even death.

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Pop star Pink was named UNICEF ambassador for a new initiative that seeks to promote physical activity in young American children, while raising money for vitamin-rich and healthy peanut paste that would be sent to children suffering from malnutrition.

“I got to watch mommas learning how to feed it to their kids,” said Pink, whose birth name is Alecia Moore. “And within a week, you can see the difference in these children. It brings them back to life. It’s amazing.”

Pink is also the national spokeswoman for another UNICEF initiative – the Kid Power Band – which is a fitness band for children that promotes exercise by means of an interactive app. With the fitness band, children can garner points by doing healthy things like taking 12,000 steps a day or achieving a pre-set goal. UNICEF’s partner firms, such as Disney and Target, will send funds required to deliver the peanut paste packets to Haiti and other nations affected heavily by child malnutrition as the kids keep earning points.

According to Pink, her recent trip to Port-au-Prince, Haiti was an eye-opening experience, one that had made her more passionate about UNICEF’s endeavors. And it was there where she saw previously malnourished children become healthier through the food packets.

“When you get to see it with your own eyes and you see that something works, then it’s a lot easier to get behind and advocate for it and try to make other people aware of it,” she said. “(UNICEF) found a brilliant way, and a fun way, to get kids here involved and empowered and motivated. And they are also turning them into global citizens and they get to be hands-on.”