Do immediate blood test on sick Dengvaxia kids – PAO chief

Public Attorney Persida Rueda Acosta is urging health officers to immediately do a blood test on children who get sick within months of receiving the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia. AFP

Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida Rueda Acosta is urging health officers to immediately do a blood test on children who received Dengvaxia and later show signs of illness.

On Thursday, Acosta said coordination between local government units, local municipal health officers, and commission health officers was needed to prevent more death among children who received the Dengvaxia vaccine.

A blood test could show if a person had been infected by dengue.

The PAO chief aired the appeal after the agency’s forensic expert, Dr. Erwin Erfe, found a pattern among children who died after getting the vaccine.

Erfe’s findings showed that the children was injected with Dengvaxia in the last six months before they died. These suffered internal bleeding, organ enlargement and a rapid progression of their illness before dying. /cbb