Find opportunity from dengue crisis
We should know the medical benefits, if any, of the vaccine despite the recent problems that it was entangled in
The government should find the opportunity from the dengue epidemic to know the real score on Dengvaxia by collecting the medical history of those inoculated amid the outbreak, Sen. Richard Gordon said.
We should know the medical benefits, if any, of the vaccine despite the recent problems that it was entangled in, according to Gordon.
“We have been discussing Dengvaxia. There should be an earnest effort to check on those who were part of the mass
immunization and see what, if there’s any, was the effect of the vaccine,” Gordon said in a recent interview with “Straight Talk with Daily Tribune.”
Department of Health (DoH) officials have said the dreaded disease is near epidemic level in some parts of the country and had urged residents in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Region 1 (Ilocos) to be more vigilant measures against the disease.
An alert level means cases have breached the average for the past five years and a higher threshold, epidemic, comes when the known cases are way higher than what is expected for an area.
Critical issues
What we should determine is the veracity of manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur’s admission that the vaccine may worsen the condition of those who were not infected previously with the disease, the senator said.
The mass immunization drive was ongoing when questions were raised on the haste in the approval of the P3.5 billion contract between the government and the French firm.
“That is what I particularly wanted to know because I never said that Dengvaxia can kill or is ineffective,” Gordon noted.
“The only thing I said was that the procurement was too fast and that there were no previous tests of the vaccine,” he said.
“We were made guinea pigs. So, we will see now the effectivity of Dengvaxia in an actual setting of an outbreak of the disease,” the senator added.
The crisis situation offers us a chance to know if there were actual deaths that happened as a result of being inoculated, he said.
“We will now have the empirical data to see that one person who did not have dengue had a more serious situation after getting injected with Dengvaxia. That’s point number 1,” he added.
“So that will be made known throughout the world. It will be included as part of the protocol on what should be done. Second, if there’s a death, we will have a proof that Sanofi tricked us,” Gordon stressed.
“Then we should have hope of collecting from Sanofi,” he said.
Questionable process
If ever Dengvaxia will be reintroduced in the country, Gordon said Sanofi should reapply for a license with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The DoH stopped the immunization drive in late 2017.
“Although it was given a license during the previous administration, the process by which the drug manufacturer got it was questionable,” he explained.
An epidemic is in effect when the known cases are way higher than what is expected for an area.
Alert level means cases have breached the average for the past five years.
He cited the old practice in the FDA wherein new drugs get a one-year provisional license, in which the company monitors a number of patients and is accountable and liable for any adverse effects.
Outright license
He, however, noted that this requirement was suspended, which allowed Dengvaxia distributor Zuellig to get an outright fiveyear license without undergoing the oneyear provisional license to take care of the required number of patients.
“We should tarry a little and make the vaccine undergo the proper process for licensing first. Let’s see if they can now comply with the requirements,” the senator said.
“It was when the process was tampered with that we got into trouble, and in fact made it worse for those whose seroprevalence is unknown. I hope the DoH will not be politicized again and compromise its role as sentinel of public health,” he added.
Department of Health officials have said the dreaded disease is near epidemic level.