DepEd pinababantayan mga estudyanteng nabakunahan ng Dengvaxia

 PINABABANTAYAN ng Department of Education ang mga estudyante na tinurukan ng Dengvaxia vaccine. Sa ipinalabas na DepEd Memorandum No. 199, series 2017, ipinag-utos ang mahigpit na pagbabantay sa mga nabakunahan sa National Capital Region, Region 3, 4A at 7. “While focus is on the four regions that piloted the DOH program, other regions shall also be involved to observe the health of learners in both private and public schools who may have been given Dengvaxia by private practitioners and through community-based vaccination.” Nagsagawa ng pagdinig ang House committee on public order and safety Miyerkules kaugnay ng kontrobersyal na bakuna kung saan iginiit ng Sanofi Pasteur Inc., na pumasa sa pamantayan ng bansa ang kanilang gamot. Ayon kay Thomas Triomphe, ang head ng Asia-Pacific Sanofi Pasteur, sumunod sa regulasyon ng Food and Drugs Administration ang kanilang gamot na inendorso ng iba’t  ibang ahensya. Sumunod din umano ito sa guidelines ng World Health Organization. “As a consequence, in December 2015, Dengvaxia was registered in the Philippines. Since then, Dengvaxia has been registered in 19 countries in Latin America and Asia and is actually used in 11 nations (both in the private and public market),” ani Triomphe. Sinabi ni Triomphe na mahigit 1 milyong tao na ang nabakuhanan ng kanilang gamot at wala pang pagkamatay na naitala dahil dito. “According to the WHO itself, next to clean water, no single intervention has had so profound an effect on the prevention and control of infectious diseases than the widespread introduction of vaccines,” aniya. Iginiit ni Triomphe na ang Dengvaxia ay nakapagbibigay ng proteksyon sa mga tao na nagka-dengue na. Sa Pilipinas umano 90 porsyento ng mga edad siyam pataas ay nagka-dengue na. “To permanently remove the vaccine from the Philippine market, on the basis only of the reported 0.02% increased risk at the population level of getting traditionally known symptoms, would be a regression in the country’s approach to solving a major public health concern and a disservice to the Filipino people.”