In the face of the rising dengue cases in the country, the Department of Health (DOH) has announced that it is open to re-examining the data related to the Dengvaxia vaccine that is resistant to such mosquito-borne virus.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said this on Tuesday, following a statement by infectious disease expert Dr. Rontgene Solante, that it is time for the government to review the data and benefits of Dengvaxia against dengue.
According to Vergeire, Dengvaxia’s certificate of product registration was revoked in 2018 following Sanofi Pasteur’s announcement that the vaccine could cause “more severe” symptoms in people who have not yet contracted dengue when vaccinated.
“For us to be able to bring back this kind of vaccine, kailangan completed na ang evidence natin. Marami tayong proseso at pag-aaral na kailangang isagawa para magawa natin lahat ng ito,” said the DOH official on Tuesday.
“Ang ating gobyerno, kasama ang Kagawaran ng Kalusugan, always open naman tayo sa bagong teknolohiya lalong-lalo na kung maipapakita ng ebidensya that it can really protect our population,” she added.
“Kailangan lamang po na mapag-aralang mabuti ulit, masusi ang pag-aaral, makakuha ng mga inputs coming from our experts, and itong manufacturer ay maging compliant sa regulasyon natin dito sa ating bansa,” explained Vergeire.
DOH open to review Dengvaxia vaccine data due to dengue cases increase
It was December 2017 when the Philippine Food and Drug Administration ordered the suspension of the sale, distribution, and marketing of the Dengvaxia vaccine and the removal of the vaccine from the market following the announcement by Sanofi.
The dengue vaccination program was implemented during the term of then Health Secretary Janette Garin in April 2016. But it stalled due to fears that the vaccine would harm human health.
However, an estimated 800,000 students aged nine and over have been vaccinated.
On Monday, the DOH reported 64,797 dengue cases in the country from January 1 to June 25, 2022. This is 90% higher compared to the same period in 2021.
At the same time, 274 people died of dengue or an increase of 0.4% case fatality rate.
In 17 regions of the country, 15 have already exceeded the alert and epidemic threshold for dengue in the past four weeks, from May 29 to June 25, 2022.
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