PGH experts to look into deaths of 14 kids given Dengvaxia vaccine

PHOTO BY EDWIN BACASMAS

A panel of experts from the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) will be reviewing the deaths of 14 children given the Dengvaxia anti-dengue vaccine under the government’s immunization program.

Health undersecretary Enrique Domingo said the children, aged nine to 11 years old, came from Central Luzon, Southern Luzon and Metro Manila.

“We are asking them to look if there is an association between the death and the vaccinations,” he said on Friday.

Domingo made the remarks on the sidelines of a forum at the Manila Hotel, where he and health secretary Francisco Duque III gave updates on the Dengvaxia vaccine controversy.

Duque earlier said the Department of Health (DOH) is monitoring all of the more than 837,000 children given the vaccine under the agency’s immunization program since March 2016.

So far, 14 case records of children who died after being administered the vaccine were forwarded to a team of experts from the PGH for review.

The PGH panel will be led by the head of its department of pediatrics, Dr. Juliet Aguilar.

“Any report of deaths or disease of these children will be referred to the PGH for review to see if there’s any relationship between the fatality and the vaccine,” Domingo said.

In an interview, Domingo explained that the experts would be asked what they think is the cause of death of the children, and if it is related to the Dengvaxia vaccine based on the case records.

Of the 14 cases forwarded to the PGH, four listed dengue as the cause of death in the death certificate, while others listed heart ailments, leukemia and lupus as causes.

One case in Bataan reported severe dengue as the cause of death. The most recent death was in December 2017.

Domingo noted that some children’s illnesses came two weeks to one month after vaccination, while others fell ill six months after vaccination.

The children had different symptoms and diagnoses when admitted to the hospitals for treatment.

The development came after the Food and Drug Administration suspended Sanofi Pasteur’s certificate of product registration for Dengvaxia for a year, slapping the drug firm with P100,000 fee.

Domingo said it took them some time to create a panel whose members would have no conflict of interest on the issue.

“They are expected to come up with a very objective appreciation of these cases. Maybe in one or two weeks they can give us the results, I cannot say exactly when,” he said.

The expenses for the morbidity and mortality review would be shouldered by DOH and PGH, Domingo added.