‘Time to try vaccines for dengue’
FORMER head of the Vaccine Expert Panel of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) Dr. Nina Gloriani encouraged the public to take advantage of new discoveries such as the next-generation vaccines against dengue.
Even though the number of dengue cases in the Philippines dropped in January this year, health advocates still consider it one of the fatal diseases, as the severity of outbreaks depends on the behavior of the communities and the effectiveness of the control measures implemented.
In 2019, which was considered a record year for the Philippines, there were 371,717 recorded dengue cases, resulting in 1,407 deaths.
Approximately half of these dengue-related deaths occurred in children between the ages of 5 and 9.
“Hopefully we can add vaccination [in efforts to fight dengue]. There are new developments. You’ve seen how new technologies were utilized for Covid-19, and we have a lot of lessons learned from that,” Gloriani said.
While a lot of parents are still hesitant to try vaccines due to the Dengvaxia fiasco which was linked to the deaths of several children after receiving the jab, Gloriani said that it is now time to adapt new discoveries.
Citing an example, Gloriani said one of the next-generation vaccines in the market today is TAK-003, also known as Qdenga, developed by Takeda Vaccines.
It has been licensed for use in more than 30 countries, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, Argentina and countries with dengue epidemiological situations similar to those in the Philippines, such as Indonesia, Brazil and recently Thailand.
On the other hand, Health Undersecretary Enrique Tayag said the Department of Health is willing to consider the introduction of a new vaccine but with a meticulous evaluation process and assessment to ensure the safety and efficacy of any potential vaccine.
“We would like to make it clear that the Department of Health is open to new vaccines. However, just like what we did in Covid-19, there will be assessment that should be done and we will look into it closely as we have responsibility if we will re-introduce it to the public. Our oath is ‘Do no harm’,” Tayag said.