IT wasn’t a case of ‘being lovelier the second time around’ when I had dengue twice. The first time I thought my head was cracking open from my forehead to my nape in a slow, agonizing zigzag pattern while my eyes was unhinging itself out of my skull. The second time, plain water tasted bitter at every single sip and my legs felt like a million tiny spiders were crawling in and out 24/7 that I had to peek under the sheets several times. Weeks after I left the hospital my body still felt like it weighed a ton while my head was bobbing in and out of an invisible ocean. Once my knees gave way while waiting for a ride and I fell face flat on the pavement.
From then on I had been severely cautious of mosquitoes and insect repelling lotions and concoctions have become constant allies. There are four dengue strains and I have no plan to complete that series like I would of Star Wars. So, obviously I rejoiced with the news of a dengue vaccine and planned to get it if I qualified. But now this news about Dengvaxia compromising the lives of some 700,000 thousand Filipino CHILDREN seems like a living nightmare.
What the news say about Dengvaxia?
Dengvaxia, according to WHO (World Health Organization), is “the first dengue vaccine to be licensed and approved by 19 regulatory authorities for use in endemic areas in persons typically ranging from 9-45 (in some countries 9-60) years of age.” It is commercially available in eleven countries as part of their national immunization programs -- the Philippines, Mexico, Indonesia, Brazil, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Guatemala, Peru, Thailand, and Singapore. Among these, the Philippines is the first country to adopt the vaccine on a national level. Along with Brazil, the target is to vaccinate one million individuals in each country. That would have been ideal considering that in 2017 alone there have been 97,287 cases of dengue in the Philippines. The vaccine was supposed to reduce dengue infection by 24% in five years. But while public schools have been introducing the vaccine to its pupils, WHO was yet to approve the vaccine thus compelling then DOH secretary Dr. Ubial to suspend the program.
On November 30, 2017, Sanofi Pasteur, Dengvaxia producer, released a statement saying that “new clinical data analysis showed its dengue vaccine is more risky for people not previously infected by the virus.”
It added: "For those not previously infected by dengue virus, however, the analysis found that in the longer term, more cases of severe disease could occur following vaccination upon a subsequent dengue infection" With that statement, the word ‘severe’ rang 700,000 worth of alarm bells in the 7,101 islands (or 7,102 if low tide). There are no details yet what ‘severe disease’ can occur. The immunization program has been called as a ‘shameless public health scam’ but until WHO clarifies ‘severe disease’, the scare is real. Very real.
In the meantime, with or without the Dengvaxia, dengue mosquitoes are still aplenty. We cannot perennially rely on insect repellants to protect us from these tiny forces of destruction. The best way is to rid our immediate surroundings of mosquito breeding areas. Bug sprays can help but these can be irritants too.
I wish there was a repellant and spray to rid the government of elected officials and public servants who played with the fate of 700,000 lives and would play with 10 million more. That would be the most ideal. But then again who knows how greed breeds in the souls of humans turned vile predators of the vulnerable.