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PAO sees pattern in deaths of 3 kids vaccinated with Dengvaxia


The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) on Monday said it has monitored a pattern on the deaths of three children who were vaccinated with the controversial anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.

PAO forensic consultant Erwin Erfe said they have exhumed and examined three bodies of children — Anjielica Pestilos, 10, Zandro Colite, 11, and Lenard Baldonado, 10, — who all had similar findings on their deaths.

Erfe said that the deaths of three children occurred within six months after they were administered with Dengvaxia while the other patterns include enlargement of different organs and bleeding on some parts of the body.

"Ang current count ng mga namatay allegedly because of Dengvaxia ay 19. As of yesterday, 3 na po ' yung na-examine namin sa PAO forensic lab...humingi ng tulong sa amin ang mga magulang para ma-examine po 'yung katawan nung namatay na bata," he said in a press briefing.

"Sa ngayon po ay kino-collate na namin 'yung resulta ng examination at meron kaming nakikitang pattern doon sa mga sakit na kanilang naranasan bago sila namatay," Erfe added.

Erfe said they found bleeding on the lungs, stomach and mouth of Pestilos who died last December 6, which was also the case for Baldonado who had enlarged organs and bleeding on his brain.

Colite, who died on January 3, had completed the three doses of Dengvaxia but had a different cause of death — acute appendicitis with sepsis, according to her grandmother.

"Ito pong si Zandro Colite na taga-Imus, Cavite, ay na-examine din po kahapon at ang initial findings po namin ay although pumutok ang kanyang appendix, tama naman po yung nasa record... pero mukhang hindi po ito yung cause of death niya dahil napakabilis po ng pangyayari," Erfe said.

"Pumutok pagkatapos po dinala sa ospital at ooperahan, pero unfortunately hindi na siya naoperahan at namatay siya kaagad. Napakabilis po nung pangyayari po sa kanya... at nakakita po kami ng bleedings sa kanyang lungs, so tinitingan naming cause of death ay mukhang ito ay respiratory failure, acute respiratory failure," he added.

Erfe said they are studying the patterns they have discovered and will include it on the possible case the PAO will file regarding Dengvaxia.

"Nali-link namin siya because sa profiling na ginagawa namin nago-occur siya within a period of six months after vaccination, so nali-link namin siya sa Dengvaxia because of the allegations na rin ng mga parents na apparently they were healthy 'yung mga bata before vaccination o bago sila magkasakit," he said.

Meanwhile, PAO has yet to examine the body of Rejazztine Alimagno, 13, who died on January 3. His death certificate showed that the cause of death was due to dengue shock syndrome.

The Department of Health had already formed an expert panel of doctors from the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital who will review the cases of 14 children administered with Dengvaxia in order to see if their deaths were related to the vaccine.

The DOH stopped the government's dengue immunization program last December 1 following Sanofi Pasteur’s advisory against prescribing Dengvaxia to patients who have not previously been exposed to dengue since it may cause severe diseases in the long run.

According to the DOH, more than 830,000 children, aged 9 and above, from public schools in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Cebu were vaccinated with Dengvaxia.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already imposed administrative sanctions on Sanofi Pasteur, ordering the certificate of product registration of dengue vaccine Dengvaxia suspended and a fine of P100,000. —KBK, GMA News

 

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