Sanofi Pasteur won’t recall dengue vaccine

French-based pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur Philippines on Monday said that it will not recall its vaccine Dengvaxia amid its advisory not to prescribe it to patients who have not been infected by dengue.

"So far with all the agencies that we've spoken with, no one has asked for a product recall," Dr. Ng Su Peing, global medical head of Sanofi Pasteur, said in a press conference in Taguig City.

"They have agreed with our proposal that we want to inform doctors through both direct communication [and] by letter, through medical education activities in order that they [are] all really informed of the new information and of course depending on each of the different ministries of health and the different countries, they can also issue their own circulars and memos to the doctors," she added.

Despite this, Ng said that they "would not recommend vaccination" for those who have not experienced dengue.

Sanofi Pasteur representatives, however, assured that the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia does not cause "severe dengue."

Last week, Sanofi has advised against prescribing the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia to patients who have not been infected by the virus in the past, since it was found that it may cause severe diseases in the long run.

The Department of Health has put on hold the government's dengue vaccination program after Sanofi raised health concerns regarding the vaccine.

DOH said that more than 733,000 children aged nine and above from public schools in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon have already received at least the first three doses of the vaccine. —KG, GMA News