DOH-7 monitors some 160,000 children vaccinated for dengue

CEBU CITY — The Department of Health (DOH) in Central Visayas is keeping a close watch on the status of nearly 160,000 children aged nine to 14 who were given the dengue vaccine in Cebu.

“We have alerted all our partners and local government units to continue to be at a heightened surveillance… in as much as we are monitoring adverse events following immunization,” said Dr. Jaime Bernadas, DOH regional director in a press conference Monday.

“What was instructed by Health Secretary Duque was to go over the profile of the children, as well as to inform the parents on the early symptoms that could manifest so that these will be early detection,” said Bernadas.

DOH data showed that there were at least 159,776 children aged nine to 14 in Cebu province including the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu who received the first of the three doses of the anti-dengue vaccine under the health department’s community-based dengue immunization program.

Dr. Hayce Ramos, medical coordinator for Child Care Program of DOHCentral Visayas, earlier said the second round of the inoculation was supposed to start this month in the province.

Bernadas noted that, as of the moment, the regional health office has not received reports of adverse events following dengue vaccination.

From January to December 1 this year, data from the DOH logged 12,420 cases related to the mosquito-borne disease, relatively lower from the 28,000 cases in 2016.

“This may be because of the natural course of the disease. It usually comes in every two year peaks,” the regional director explained.

The regional director assured the public that the health department is “doing all its best on how to come up with the resolution of this issue.”

“We will assist these patients through our hospitals and extend whatever assistance we could,” Bernadas said.

For his part, Cebu Provincial Health Office Chief Dr. Rene Catan said he has directed the city and municipal health centers in the province to collate the list of all children who were given the first dose of the vaccine. Catan said his office did not receive instructions from the DOH to track inoculated children.

Last week, Sanofi Pasteur disclosed that Dengvaxia could potentially cause a more severe case of dengue.

“The analysis confirmed that Dengvaxia provides persistent protective benefit against dengue fever in those who had prior infection…. For those not previously infected by dengue virus, however, the analysis found that in the longer term, more cases of severe disease could occur following vaccination upon a subsequent dengue infection,” it said in a statement.

The following day, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III suspended the DOH’s dengue immunization program.