Boy, 10, admitted for fever, nosebleed
A 10 year-old-boy who was given the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia last August was rushed to the hospital early morning yesterday because of fever and nosebleed.
He is suspected to be suffering from dengue infection.
Jujen Ababon, a Grade 5 student from Sitio Kaduldulan Barangay Lawaan 3, Talisay City was first brought to Talisay City District Hospital but was later on transferred to a private hospital in Naga City because the district hospital cannot accommodate him.
Ababon's mother, Jinny, is very worried because her son was among the kids who were given a shot of Dengvaxia vaccine and he was not infected with dengue before.
The news that Dengvaxia may cause severe dengue infection to those who were not yet infected with the virus alarmed her more.
Ababon had high fever since Saturday and last Sunday, his nose was bleeding but it stopped when they applied first aid.
On Tuesday, Jujen's fever was gone but yesterday dawn, his nose was bleeding profusely.
Together with her husband, they immediately brought Jujen to the district hospital and found out that he has dengue infection.
Jujen is the eldest among her four children.
Harby Abellanosa, TDH Chief Nurse, said that the boy is now in a stable condition as compared to his situation before he was admitted.
But the patient was referred to a private hospital in Naga since the ward in the district hospital is full.
City Councilor Richard Francis Aznar, chairman of the committee on health, said they will be giving financial assistance to the boy's family.
Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma supports the call for an investigation on distribution of the Dengvaxia vaccine.
He also challenged the Department of Health (DOH) to study thoroughly its program that has put children at risk instead of protecting them.
“There should be an investigation… As we know, they should not just inject anything even with good intention. It (dengue vaccine) has to be tested over and over again before you inject it on human beings,” he told reporters yesterday after celebrating a Mass at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral in downtown Cebu City.
He admitted he was also hesitant about the distribution of the Dengvaxia dengue vaccine even before DOH rolled out its program.
The Dengvaxia is the world's first vaccine against dengue virus developed by French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur.
“Because we are not sure yet if this has been tested… so we put the challenge on DOH since we are also worried,” said Palma.
The 67-year-old prelate said the initiators of the program may have good intentions but as what has been happening now, this event may cause panic.
But he trusts the concerned authorities in addressing the matter especially in looking after the vaccinated children.
Sanofi Pasteur earlier revealed that the vaccine poses risks to people without a history of dengue. Dengue infection has been considered as the fastest growing mosquitoborne disease in the globe.
After the news broke out, the program was suspended and regional health authorities ordered heightened surveillance of the thousands of children, who received the first dose of anti-dengue vaccines, in Cebu province where the immunization program was extended.
DOH-7 counted a total of 159,766 children aged nine to 14 who were vaccinated with the first shot.
The first of the three doses was administered from June to October.
The second round of dengue vaccination was supposed to start this December for Cebu province, which was the fourth pilot area after the three highly endemic regions (Central Luzon; Calabarzon; and National Capital Region) where the program was initially launched.