CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—The Department of Health (DOH) Regional Office III on Tuesday said that there is no reported case of children who were given anti-dengue vaccination that showed severe dengue manifestation in Central Luzon, particularly in Pampanga.
Dr. Jess Fantone, head of the DOH Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance, said in a phone interview that so far, they had not received any report of “severe dengue” among pupils in Central Luzon since the administration of the third and final round of anti-dengue vaccine in April 2016.
Fantone likewise denied reports that the death of three vaccinated children in Central Luzon was traced to the vaccine.
“Based on the DOH national adverse event committee of the dengue vaccination program, the vaccine was not the cause of the deaths of the children. The deaths have been classified as coincidental with the vaccination,” he said.
He explained that the only adverse effects of the anti-dengue vaccines are fever, headache, rashes, and dizziness.
“Those are common adverse effects of any vaccines administered to children,” he said.
Fantone said the DOH regional office had been strictly monitoring the pupils who were given the anti-dengue vaccines in Central Luzon.
“We have the complete list of those children who were administered the three doses of anti-dengue vaccines. We have been closely monitoring them,” he said.
Dengavaxia was administered to some 200,000 elementary students in the seven provinces of Central Luzon.
Meanwhile, some parents of children given anti-dengue vaccinations in Pampanga are supporting the plan of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file criminal cases against former government officials involved in the program following the admission of the Dengvaxia manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur of the risks of the vaccines to those who had never been ill of dengue.
The parents said that while their consents were first obtained, they were not informed about the experimental nature of the vaccine nor were they warned of possible side effects.
“I am praying hard that nothing will happen to my child who was given the anti-dengue vaccines. They transformed our children into guinea pigs,” Jocelyn Sampang, whose son received the three doses of anti-dengue vaccine, said.
Data from the Provincial Health Office (PHO) showed that the third and final doses of Dengvaxia were administered to 32,210 pupils in the Department of Education (DepEd) division of Pampanga; 6,855 pupils in the division of Angeles City and 4,691 pupils in the City of San Fernando. (PNA)
