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Medical experts allay public fears over dengue vaccine


Several medical experts on Tuesday said there is no need to panic over fears that the controversial Dengvaxia has led to the deaths of several kids who were administered the vaccine.

Senator JV Ejercito, chairman of the Senate health committee, said there should be a more “sober” way of moving forward from the issue. One of Ejercito’s sons received Dengvaxia, the senator earlier said.

“Walang basis na mag-panic ngayon. Ang advise namin, based on our calculations doon sa mga results form the clinical trials, in general safe. Kasi marami sa mga kababayan natin at that age would be sero positive,” Dr. Mary Ann Lansang, one of the resource persons at the Senate probe on Dengvaxia, said.

Lansang said the “minimal risk” of dengue being enhanced by the vaccine can be addressed by “prompt health-seeking.”

Dr. Juliet Sio-Aguilar, head of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) expert panel, said a “normal disease” can happen “with or without Dengvaxia.”

“Grabe ang kaba ngayon. Kailangan natin ipahiwatig sa kanila na ang dengue infection ay hindi mangyayari kung hindi nakagat ng lamok,” Aguilar said.

According to the UP-PGH panel, three of the 14 Dengvaxia-related cases exhibited “causal association”—  two of them suspected to be caused by “vaccine failure.”

Aguilar explained that according to the World Health Organization, causality assessment “will or will not prove or disprove an association.”

“Ang causality is not exactly or necessarily meaning na direct effect. Pwede, pwedeng hindi; basta may relasyon,” she said.

Dr. Socorro Lupisan, director of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), said “with or without vaccine, you might have dengue because dengue is prevalent in the Philippines.”

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, meanwhile, told the Senate blue ribbon committee that there is a decline on the number of children getting immunization -- from 87 percent to 57 percent.

“One of the common reasons for refusal is that Dengvaxia has tainted the other vaccines,” Duque said.

According to Duque, even vaccine for deworming, which is not injected, is being refused by parents.

“I think it is fanned unnecessarily by the hysterics that seem to come from certain quarters. This is unfair because the parents will tend to absorb everything that is mentioned about this and is coming from the questionable sources,” Duque said.

Dr. Anthony Leachon, former member of the DOH expert panel on dengue, said however, that the trust on the immunization programs implemented by the government can only be regained with “urgent justice and accountability.”

The DOH stopped the government's dengue immunization program on December 1 following Sanofi Pasteur’s announcement that the vaccine may increase the risk of hospitalization for dengue and severe dengue in those with no prior infection.

More than 830,000 children aged 9 and above from public schools in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Cebu were vaccinated with Dengvaxia according to DOH. — RSJ, GMA News

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