Health officials to face PB

The Cebu Provincial Board (PB) will summon officials of the Department of Health (DOH) 7 to attend their regular session this week to shed light on the issue regarding the distribution of Dengvaxia vaccines in the towns and cities.

PB Member Christopher Baricuatro said that DOH 7 Director Jaime Bernadas is expected to attend Friday’s session.

The Provincial Health Office (PHO) will also meet with medical experts to help them come up with a protocol on handling children who had been given the vaccine. Baricuatro said they summoned Dr. Bernadas and Dr. Gerardo Aquino of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center to update them on the Province’s plan to tie up with a tertiary-level hospital to deploy doctors to provincial hospitals.

Dr. Rene Catan, PHO head, told SunStar Cebu that with DOH’s hands still tied in the Dengvaxia controversy, they will come up with their own guidelines on how health units in the Province can deal with cases involving children who had been given the vaccine.

Meanwhile, the 10-year-old boy who was hospitalized for dengue fever after being vaccinated with Dengvaxia has been released from hospital. Jujen Ababon was released from the South General Hospital in the City of Naga, Cebu last Sunday afternoon, said Jinny, his mother.

Jinny told reporters that while her son has fully recovered from his ailment, they will still monitor him for symptoms of severe dengue.

Talisay City and the Department of Health shouldered the hospital costs.