In the Talk Widus forum of the Pampanga Press Club, Dr. Cindy Canlas, regional chief of the DOH’s communicable and other diseases department, said “the affected ages are 10 to 14 years old, and most of the cases are aged 11. Majority are females.”
She also cited a report indicating that “most of the cases (164 cases or 96.5 percent) were vaccinated with three doses of anti-den- gue vaccine.”
Canlas noted that DOH started the surveillance of Dengvaxia-vaccinated children on Dec. 1 last year, following the admission of vaccine manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur that the vaccine could lead to severe cases for those without any history of dengue.
The report described the 170 cases “adverse event after immunization” or AEFI, although fi nal confi rmation of whether they succumbed to dengue is still being awaited from the Regional Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM).
Canlas distributed during the forum materials on Dengue immunization which are now being spread especially in schools where the Dengvaxia-vaccinated kids are enrolled.
The materials enumerated the symptoms of dengue and urged that suspected victims be brought immediately to a health center or hospital.
It also advised patients not to take any medicine without doctor’s prescription It also urged the practice of the so-called “4-S” against dengue, including destruction of the breeding places of mosquitoes which transmit dengue, early consultation with a doctor, self-protection measures such as application of anti-mosquito lotions, and fogging “in times of impending outbreak.”
