Dengvaxia may be used to prevent future dengue outbreaks —Garin

Former Health Secretary and now Iloilo Representative Janette Garin on Wednesday said the controversial Dengvaxia vaccine may be used to prevent future dengue outbreaks in the country.

Garin made the remark in response to the statement of Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo saying that Dengvaxia is not a way to respond to a dengue outbreak.

In a press conference, Garin said there is truth in Domingo's statement on the efficacy of Dengvaxia as vaccine.

"Totoo po yun pero bakit po ba tayo napunta sa usapang yun? Nobody said that vaccine is actually a solution to current outbreak. However, they were wrong in saying that it cannot solve future outbreaks," she said.

Garin said that while a vaccine is not a response to an outbreak, it is meant to target areas with no outbreaks yet to protect the residents there.

"The vaccine is not an immediate response to the outbreak but for areas that do not have an outbreak, it can help a lot," she said.

"The vaccine is there to prevent future outbreaks. Alangan namang hintayin natin na marami munang mamatay bago tayo sumagot?" she added.

Garin urged government officials not to deceive the public with regards to the dengue outbreak.

"Let us not put the statement of the anti-vaxers into the mouth of the DOH spokesperson and the secretary," she said.

The Department of Health on Tuesday declared a national dengue epidemic following the rise in dengue cases in the Philippines.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said 622 people have died due to dengue. A total of 146,062 cases, he said, have been recorded from January to July 20, which is 98% higher than the same period in 2018.

Malacañang earlier said it is open to the proposal of making the controversial Dengvaxia vaccine available again to the public if tests confirm its effectiveness against the disease.

The Dengvaxia controversy arose in November 2017 when manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur announced that the vaccine may lead to more severe symptoms of dengue for those who have never been infected by the virus prior to vaccination.

As a result, the DOH stopped the school-based dengue immunization program and proposed to President Rodrigo Duterte a panel of Asian health experts that will look into safety issues raised against the vaccine.

Several criminal complaints in connection with deaths allegedly linked to Dengvaxia have also been filed by the Public Attorney’s Office before the Department of Justice. Garin is among the respondents. —KBK, GMA News