PGH tapped to probe alleged Dengvaxia deaths

The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday said that it had tapped experts from the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) to validate the alleged deaths among children administered with the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.

“We are being transparent to erase doubts from other sectors that the DOH might be concealing information relevant to Dengvaxia vaccination,” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in a press briefing.

UP-PGH will be providing an independent review and assessment on the probable cause of deaths submitted by the DOH through an expert group of pediatricians, pathologists and other specialists with no financial or intellectual ties to Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine manufacturer.

“The UP-PGH, as the national university hospital, is the most credible third party institution to conduct this review for the DOH as it has the clinical and research expertise as well as mandate to provide assistance on matters of important health concern,” Duque said.

The Public Attorney’s Office earlier presented to the Department of Justice (DOJ) the parents of 10-year-old Anjielica Pestilos and 11-year-old Christine Mae de Guzman, who both died allegedly due to severe dengue months after receiving the world’s first dengue vaccine.

DOH Undersecretary Rolando Domingo, during the press conference, said the health department was set to refer two to three cases that were up for validation of UP-PGH.

“It will really be mostly clinical, especially the postmortem examination,” the health official said.

“The advantage of having PGH is that they are going to have multiple specialists and people who are the best in their fields,” he said.

Domingo said results would be released two weeks after UP-PGH conducts its independent clinical review of the cases.

Duque said the DOH continued to consolidate all relevant documents requested by the National Bureau of Investigation upon the orders of the DOJ to look into the procurement and administration of the dengue vaccine on more than 800,000 Filipino children.

Documents

“The DOH is committed to fully cooperate in the conduct of investigation on the issue and has, in fact, submitted relevant documents to the Senate and Congress last year, even before the recent announcement of Sanofi Pasteur that the dengue vaccine poses risks on individuals with no prior dengue infection,” Duque said.

“The DOH will be instituting a more permanent scheme of monitoring all cases in the coming years through its recently created vaccine task force,” he said.

According to Duque, the DOH has already constituted an independent expert panel of top scientists from relevant professional fields to examine new evidence on Dengvaxia and formulate specific technical guidelines on enhancing adverse effects following immunization, surveillance and monitoring.

The DOH expert panel is set to convene for the first time next year, he said.

“We assure the public that our private hospitals are prepared to handle and manage severe cases of dengue and other potential adverse events following immunization. We have long instituted the dengue fast lanes in DOH hospitals,” he said.

The DOH assured the public that PhilHealth coverage would be available for all those given the vaccine under government-sponsored programs.

Earlier this month, Duque said the government might ask Sanofi to refund P1.4 billion ($27.6 million) worth of unused Dengvaxia supplies, set up an “indemnity fund” to cover the hospitalization cost for vaccinated children and even sue the French firm. —WITH A REPORT FROM AFP