DEPED REINFORCES MONITORING OF LEARNERS WHO RECEIVED DOH’S DENGUE VACCINATION
EDWIN M. ORTEGA
To help allay fears of parents of children who have been immunized with Sanofi Pasteur’s dengue vaccine, Department of Education (DepEd) issued DepEd Memorandum No. 199, series 2017 (DM 199), or the Monitoring and Surveillance of Learners who have been Administered with Dengvaxia Vaccine.
According to Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones, the DepEd, DOH, and the Department of Local and Interior Government (DILG), through the local government units (LGUs), shall jointly implement a strong monitoring and surveillance system to ensure the condition of learners in the National Capital Region (NCR), Regions 3 and 4A, and 7 who received the vaccine.
While focus is on the four regions that piloted the DOH program, other regions shall also be involved to observe the health of learners in both private and public schools who may have been given Dengvaxia by private practitioners and through community-based vaccination.
DM 199 directs all school administrators and school health personnel to review the master list of inoculated students, regardless of the number of doses received, identify them for close monitoring for any symptom, and initiate referral report.
Involvement of parents and teachers is also crucial in facilitating the strengthened monitoring and surveillance system. They may help by reporting cases of vaccinated students with fever to the text line that DOH will set up. Health workers of rural health units (RHUs) shall act on these text reports. Furthermore, parents are encouraged to participate in forums on the vaccine program and information drive against dengue in the community, which will be conducted by schools and trained health coordinators.
School administrators are likewise enjoined to strictly adhere to the 4S Strategy and the provisions of DM 152, s. 2011, or Preventing Dengue in Schools, to ensure the regular conduct of vector control measures to eliminate mosquitoes in the school environment.
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The author is Teacher III at Arayat Central School