‘3 more deaths linked to Dengvaxia had dengue symptoms’

MANILA, Philippines — Three of the five new cases of children who died after they were given Dengvaxia vaccine had manifested symptoms of dengue, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.

Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo confirmed that the five died and that three of them were diagnosed to have had dengue. 

“I am waiting for the records of the five cases, but I was informed that the clinical diagnosis of three of them were dengue shock syndrome,” he said in an interview.

Their deaths add up to 14 cases of children who died after being vaccinated with Dengvaxia under the DOH’s school-based dengue vaccination campaign.   

Domingo said they would forward the records of the five cases to the expert panel of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH), which is looking into the 14 earlier deaths on orders of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.

The DOH expects the panel to submit a report today.

“I don’t know the extent of the report that the panel will submit but maybe it will contain their analysis of the cases... and their recommendations on how we go about further testing if needed,” Domingo said.

He stressed that the DOH made sure the panel was “isolated from us so they would be objective and free from influence.”

The DOH, according to him, has validated 60 to 70 percent of the over 837,000 schoolchildren who were vaccinated in the National Capital Region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and some cities in Cebu.  

He added that the lists have been sent to the DOH regional offices for double-checking to ensure that only those who really had the vaccination are included.

Dengvaxia manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur, through Zuellig Pharma, has retrieved the unused vaccines being kept at the warehouses of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Alabang and the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City.

Domingo said Sanofi, upon completing retrieval, would reimburse P1.18 billion representing the value of vaccines that have been returned.