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Health advocates urge DOH to delay dengue vaccination until proven safe

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<ul><li>Health advocates appealed to the DOH to delay dengue vaccination until proven safe</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">Sanofi Pasteur earlier disclosed that while the vaccine could lower the number of dengue cases it could increase the severity of the disease for those who get it</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">The DOH is urged to prioritize and intensify the vaccination program for other common diseases</li> </ul>Public health advocates, healthcare workers, academics, and civic organizations have joined hands and are urging the Department of Health (DOH) to delay the roll-out of the vaccine to fight dengue infection among children until it is proven safe. Dr. Antonio Dans, Professor of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, said that the primary concern raised by Sanofi Pasteur is about a potential problem with dengue vaccines which denotes that while the vaccine could lower the number of cases of dengue initially, it could later increase the severity of disease for those who get it. According to Dans, this phenomenon, which is called “antibody dependent enhancement (ADE)” is being monitored closely by the pharmaceutical company, an article published by <a href="http://interaksyon.com/article/125977/health-advocates-to-doh-delay-dengue-vaccination-until-proven-safe-for-children">InterAksyon </a>stated. Likewise, Dans said that it would take a long span of time to study ADE. Dans said that based on the pharmaceutical study, this may take place by the third year after vaccination. While the Sanofi and the DOH claimed ADE was only seen in children lower than 9 years old, the data showed that it could be happening in both younger and older children as well as in adults. As pointed out by Dans, Sanofi and DOH are aware of the possibility they there may be a rise in cases of severe dengue after two years of implementing the program. Thus, the DOH plans to further intensify surveillance and is securing parental consent for vaccination. Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Leachon, President of the Philippine College of Physicians Foundation, questioned the apparent rush in the vaccination. He said that even the World Health Organization’s (WHO) report from the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on the vaccine is yet to be released. This, he said, brings health advocates to make an appeal to the DOH to wait until the study is completed and put in place safeguards to protect children from possible adverse effects on their health. “According to the WHO, it has yet to issue an approval over the public health use of Dengvaxia® (CYD-TDV). The DOH can also wait for a year until the completion of the study on patients, or wait for the prequalification of the vaccine in the WHO in two years,” Leachon was quoted saying. In addition, Leachon noted that prequalification will lower the cost of vaccines which will translate to saving more children from the disease. As such, the civil society groups urged the DOH to prioritize and intensify the vaccination program for common diseases to include tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, measles, polio, hemophilus influenza B, and hepatitis B. Last year, a national survey by the Food and Nutrition research Institute showed that only 60% of children received all these essential vaccines enumerated by the civil society groups. <a href="http://kickerdaily.com/health-advocates-urge-doh-to-delay-dengue-vaccination-until-proven-safe/" rel="nofollow">Kicker Daily News</a>

Health advocates appealed to the DOH to delay dengue vaccination until proven safe Sanofi Pasteur earlier disclosed that while the vaccine c...