‘Existing vaccines may not work against mystery flu’
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday reminded the public that existing vaccines against pneumonia are not guaranteed to work for the “mysterious” respiratory illness detected in China.
In an interview, DOH Undersecretary Eric Domingo said the public should not be swayed if there are people claiming to have vaccines that can protect them against the mysterious disease.
“Flu vaccines are always designed for the predominant flu virus for that year, so the vaccines that we have now are for the virus circulating around the world. Currently, it is not yet known what kind of illness is in China,” he noted.
Domingo, however, encouraged the public to get the regular flu vaccines immediately because January and February is flu season in the Philippines.
The mysterious disease was initially seen among 44 individuals who either worked, visited or passed by a market in Wuhan, China late last year.
This raised fears that the illness has something to do with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which originated in China in 2002 and has spread around the world.
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