Roque reassures affected families of Dengvaxia 'effectiveness'

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque on Dec. 4 urged the public to not worry about the Dengvaxia vaccine, which experts say could put at risk those who have not been infected before but was injected by it.

The vaccine, Roque said, is "very effective" in protecting the person from another dengue attack if the person already contracted dengue in the past, Roque said.

Roque, however, said people who had not been infected by dengue before might get a more severe case of dengue after a Dengvaxia shot.

The Department of Health (DOH) spokesman, Eric Tayag, said the mass vaccination was only held in areas where dengue was already widespread and that the children vaccinated were 9 years and older.

Tayag also said the DOH was also checking hospital records for severe cases of dengue and deaths over the vaccinations. Reports showed there was none.

French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur, the main source of the Dengvaxia vaccine, said acute dengue cases would not become apparent until about 5 years after vaccination.

"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," Sanofi said.

According to the DOH, more than 211,000 suspected cases of dengue fever were reported in the country last year, and at least 1,000 people died.

Upon the announcement of the suspension of the vaccination program, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said new recommendations would be released later this month by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, an advisory body of the World Health Organization (WHO).