No Dengvaxia vaccination in Baguio City - CESU

THE Baguio City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (Cesu) assured that no Dengvaxia vaccination was undertaken by the city during the nationwide dengue immunization vaccination.

"Baguio City and the Cordillera Region were not part of the immunization program of the Department of Health (DOH) during the previous administration since it was only the National Capital Region, Region 3 (Central Luzon) and Region 4A (Calabarzon) who underwent with the program," Cesu head Dr. Donnabel Tubera said.

The government has ordered an investigation into the immunization of more than 730,000 children with a dengue vaccine that has been suspended following an announcement by French drug company Sanofi that it could worsen the disease in some cases, because it did not equally protect dengue patients against the four different types of the virus.

"Except for private clinics in the city who sells the vaccine for 4,500 per treatment session, the city's health office nor the regional health department has no access to the said vaccine," Tubera assured the public.

The Cesu have recommended a strict screening process of possible dengue patients for it to monitor the adverse event following immunization.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it hoped by the end of the year to conduct a full review of data on the vaccine, commercially known as Dengvaxia.

WHO have recommended the vaccine to be used only in people who had a prior infection with dengue.

"For patients who have previously been diagnosed with dengue, there is a higher percentage of treatment if it uses the vaccine earlier recommended by the WHO as compared to the first time dengue patients," Tubera added.

A new analysis from six years of clinical data showed Dengvaxia provides persistent protective benefit in those who had prior infection. But for those not previously infected, more cases of severe disease could occur following vaccination.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne tropical disease, killing about 20,000 people a year and infecting hundreds of millions.

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