Over 150,000 children in Cebu were given the controversial dengue vaccine or the Dengvaxia; which was recently withdrawn by the Department of Health following a statement from its manufacturer, Sanofi Pasteur, that it could lead to “severe dengue” especially for children who have never been infected by the virus.
The DOH regional office alerted their partners, the local government units and rural health units to intensify their surveillance and monitoring of the 158,766 children given the vaccine. There were actually 323, 779 children who qualified for the vaccine, which started last June and ended last August and given to children nine years old and above.
The second dose would have been given early next year but was suspended by the DOH.
DOH Regional Director Dr. Jaime Bernadas said all the children who were given the vaccine will be profiled and their vaccination history and hospitalizations if any, should be taken.
Governor Hilario Davide III said the province was not a recipient of the vaccine because they were directly given by the DOH to the Regional Health Units (RHU).
Davide said they will be monitoring the children given the vaccine. The Provincial Health Office has been tasked to collect the data pertinent to the vaccination program.
“Let us follow the orders of DOH. I’m not exactly sure what’s the effect but there is a statement from DOH to stop it from further tests for efficacy and that this could be risky for children who have no history of dengue,” Davide said.
In Mandaue City, Mayor Luigi Quisumbing ordered barangay health workers in all barangay health centers and the city health department to monitor the 6,000 children who were given the dengue vaccine.
“We will just, for the meantime, continue to clean our environment, search and destroy possible mosquito-breeding grounds,” Quisumbing said.
Opposed
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Rene Catan had earlier opposed what he called the ‘hasty’ implementation of the immunization program.
He said suspending the Dengvaxia vaccine is the right thing to do.
“That’s just right. If you can remember, we resisted on availing it even if everyone criticized us,” he said.
He added that at that time there was an absence of any official findings and statements from its manufacturer pertaining to its effectiveness.
Clarify
Meantime, a meeting has been set for December 6 among the DOH, Sanofi and the World Health Organization (WHO) to discuss and clarify the statements from the manufacturer Sanofi regarding the effects of the vaccine.
Dr. Bernadas said he would like to clarify what Sanofi meant about “severe dengue,” because the type of classification was no longer used by the department.
“Before dengue was classified as mild, moderate and severe. But now it is already classified as from stage 1-4, and severe dengue currently falls in stage 1 or stage 2 classification. Severe dengue before was described with early symptoms of the disease and a platelet of less than 100,000,” he added.
He described that hematologic changes and forms of bleeding are the ones now classified under stage 3 and 4 of dengue.
Aside from heightened surveillance, DOH will also educate parents on detection of early symptoms of problems in post vaccination.
DOH also assured the public that they will assist patients who were given the Dengvaxia vaccine and developed severe dengue.
“We assure the public that the department is doing its best to come with a resolution of the issue,” he said.
Prevalent
Bernadas also said dengue is highly prevalent in Central Visayas.
Last year, the department recorded the highest cases of dengue in the region with 28,737 cases and 254 deaths, from 2015 up to present.
In 2015, DOH-7 has recorded 14,371 cases and 87 deaths while from January to December 1 this year, around 12,308 cases of dengue were recorded with 112 deaths.
But Bernadas clarified that the most effective way to avoid the disease is to keep surroundings clean and get rid of mosquito breeding places. /With Correspondents Morexette Marie B. Erram and Norman Mendoza