According to government lawyers, medical examiners said yesterday they found similar patterns in the deaths of five children who received the now-halted Dengvaxia vaccine.
The government stopped immunizing public school students with the vaccine Dengvaxia last December after French drug maker Sanofi disclosed that it might increase the risk of severe dengue in recipients not previously infected by the mosquito-borne virus. But over 700,000 thousand students had already been vaccinated by that time.
According to a report from ABS-CBN News, examiners from the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) found the following pattern: internal bleeding, enlarged organs, and death within 6 months after receiving the vaccine.
A fifth child examined yesterday showed the same pattern, said Dr. Erwin Erfe, head of the PAO Forensic Laboratory.
“There was a lot of bleeding in the head, brain, heart, lungs, and along the intestinal tract. Basically, the findings were the same,” Erfe told local radio station DZMM.
Later today, the PAO will examine two other children from Bataan who died after receiving the vaccine last year.
The Department of Health (DOH), Erfe said, is ready to assist PAO in their investigation.
PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta, however, earlier rejected the offer of help, claiming that the experts allegedly have ties with Sanofi, which DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III has denied.
Former President Benigno Aquino III and his health secretary Janet Garin faced a senate probe last Dec. 14 over allegations that his administration rushed the procurement and approval of Dengvaxia despite public knowledge that Dengvaxia may be dangerous, including information from a 2016 study from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Over 70 parents of children vaccinated have already brought government officials involved in the procurement to the Supreme Court.
Earlier today, the Supreme Court directed senior government officials to answer the petition.
with a report from ABS-CBN News
