DOH welcomes probes on deaths linked to Dengvaxia – Duque

The Department of Health (DOH) welcomed on Thursday the investigation of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) on the death of the five children allegedly due to the controversial Dengvaxia anti-dengue vaccine.

“Wine-welcome po namin ang findings ng PAO. Walang problema ‘yan, we respect that,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in an interview with Radyo Inquirer 990 AM.

“Ang pinto namin bukas sa mga pakikiugnayan na makakatulong at makakasuporta sa imbestigasyon po ng Department of Justice, the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation), ng Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, we welcome all of that,” Duque added.

Duque said they are also waiting for the results of the separate investigation conducted by a panel of University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) doctors, who are currently studying the death of 14 children inoculated with Dengvaxia.

He noted that the DOH made sure that the doctors were not linked to Sanofi-Pasteur, the French pharmaceutical firm that produced the anti-dengue vaccine.

“Hindi naman pwedeng DOH ang mag-conduct ng investigation, sasabihinh self-serving o bias…kailangan talaga independent,” Duque pointed out.

After conducting its own probe, the PAO reported having found a “link” between the deaths of the five children from different areas in Luzon.

PAO examiners, according to Dr. Erwin Erfe, director of the PAO Forensic Laboratory, also had noted a “pattern” in the death of the five children who had been administered with Dengvaxia without previous dengue infection.

The latest among the five was a 13-year-old boy, who died of dengue shock in Bulacan province on January 3. The PAO forensic team found massive bleeding in the boy’s internal organs.                       /kga