But doctors cite possible risks

DOCTORS and health advocates asked the Department of Health on Monday to delay its P3.5-billion dengue vaccination program, citing possible risks posed by the vaccine which, they claimed, have yet to be proven safe for children.

“The study [on the dengue vaccine] is still going on. If it [has been] proven safe, why have they not stopped the trials?” Dr. Antonio Dans, a professor of the University of the Philippines’ College of Medicine, said at a news forum in Manila.

On the same day, the DOH launched its immunization program against the mosquito-borne disease with over 200 Grade 4 children in Marikina City as the initial beneficiaries.

According to Dans, while the vaccine marketed as Dengvaxia could lower the number of dengue cases initially, it may later lead to the development of more severe cases.

This phenomenon called “antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE)” was being monitored closely by Sanofi, the French pharmaceutical company which developed the vaccine, he said.

“The number of mild cases of dengue decreases but the number of severe ones increases,” he told reporters.

Citing the company’s own studies, Dans said that ADE may occur on the third year after vaccination.

While Sanofi and the DOH claimed that ADE was observed only in children younger than 9 years old, the data showed that it could happen in younger and older children, as well as in adults.

“If a vaccine prevents [a mild form of the] disease but [later] causes severe dengue, we shouldn’t be using it at all,” Dans said.

Dr. Anthony Leachon, president of the Philippine College of Physicians Foundation, also criticized the DOH’s haste in  implementing the program.

“Why they can’t wait even for just two weeks?” he said,  explaining that the World Health Organization’s (WHO) report from the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on the vaccine was expected to be released in two weeks.

“As health advocates, we appeal to the DOH to wait until the study is completed and safeguards [put in place] to protect children from possible adverse effects,” Leachon added.

Both he and Dans said that the WHO has yet to approve the public health use of Dengvaxia.