Outbreak
The Department of Health declared a measles outbreak in the National Capital Region last Wednesday. According to the DOH, measles cases in the NCR have increased by five hundred fifty percent. Fifty-five people have died at the San Lazaro Hospital due to measles, mostly children up to the age of four. In one day alone, seven died. There is no argument that these numbers are alarming, especially since children are often the victim of measles. So what exactly happened that would cause a measles outbreak in the NCR?
According to the DOH, the number of children being vaccinated has significantly gone down. DOH Secretary Duque attributes the decreased number to the Dengvaxia controversy, or particularly the intense, public, politicized campaign of the Public Attorney’s Office, claiming that the said vaccine caused the deaths of more than a hundred children. Several cases have been filed against current and previous officials with regards to Dengvaxia, which was administered to more than eight hundred thousand children through a government immunization program by the previous administration. A situation of good intentions gone wrong. Lawmakers from the House Committees on Good Government and Health have recently recommended that former President Aquino and several others be charged in connection with Dengvaxia, even though Aquino and some officials have earlier been exonerated by the former chairman of the same committee. I wonder if they will execute the same decision on the issues regarding conflict of interest against DBM Secretary Diokno and Solicitor General Jose Calida.
But as I have said, no country that has also approved the sale and use of Dengvaxia has reported deaths attributed to the vaccine. Only the Philippines came up in a search on the internet, all referring to the controversies around the vaccine. There is no evidence directly pointing to Dengvaxia as the cause of death of the children. If the vaccine is truly that bad as being framed by the PAO, then it should also be happening in other parts of the world, right? It should be emphasized that the vaccine for measles has always been safe to use. It is the only protection available against measles. The WHO is concerned that other diseases such as polio, diphtheria, and pertussis will also emerge, due to the low percentage of children being vaccinated. There are also vaccines available for these diseases normally given to children. With the many poor communities in the Metro where illnesses can rapidly spread, that would be catastrophic.
The issues surrounding Dengvaxia must be put aside, especially since cases have already been filed. Let the courts do the work, especially on the accountability of Sanofi Pasteur for the late warnings. What must be done is an intense information campaign that the vaccines being given prior to the Dengvaxia scare such as those for measles, polio, diphtheria, and pertussis are safe. They have always been safe. Parents of children not yet immunized against these diseases must be made to see beyond the Dengvaxia controversy, for their children’s sake.
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