SEVERE ILLNESS CAUSED BY DENGVAXIA ‘RARE’

Drug manufacturer says vaccine should not be recommended to individuals who haven’t had dengue fever yet

Manufacturers of Dengvaxia said that the chances of their vaccine causing severe dengue fever are rare.

Sanofi Pasteur issued an update on its website a day after the Department of Health (DOH) demanded from the multinational pharmaceutical firm a refund of the P3.5-billion payment for the Dengvaxia vaccines. DOH also demanded that the company shoulder the medical expenses incurred by affected victims.

The firm has released the vaccine to 13 countries so far.

Sanofi Pasteur said that only one out of 800 dengue infections, which include symptomless infections, could lead to se- vere infection.

While they admitted that the vaccine should not be recommended to individuals who have not been previously infected by dengue fever, Sanofi Pasteur noted that “very few” cases of severe dengue have occurred in people who were vaccinated but who had not been infected previously.

They said that of the 18,000 people vaccinated during their clinical trials, all fully recovered.

But Sanofi Pasteur said there is a possibility that some people who have not been infected may have undergone a symptomless dengue infection before.

Sanofi Pasteur said that based on their studies, an estimated 75 percent of dengue infections could be symptomless, so most people may not actually know they have had a past dengue infection.

Sanofi Pasteur said that based on the overall results from their clinical studies performed in high dengue-endemic countries, lower rates of dengue hospitalizations and severe disease were observed among those who have been vaccinated than those who haven’t received the vaccine.