TUESDAY/Alrcusr6, 2010,

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zot6 Dengvaxia mess vaccination a serious mistake

there is a growing clamor to
rring back Dengvuria to helP
lddress the increasing number
rf dengue cases.
Even Malacaflang says it is
)pen to anything, if it is for the
renefit of the people.
mented prior infection:'i mine how many students were
But it was not recommended dengue-naive before they wete
for "individuals who have not vaccinated.
previously been infected by one If Sanofi Pasteur corifirms
of the four types of virus." that there is severe infection
The US FDA arrived at the risk for dengue-naive, or
decision after post-marketing seronegatives, why did the past
something' is terribly wrong ated "day and night markets" ir
here. commercial districts and other
money-making ordinance$. Thei:
On S-ept. 26, or 5r days from .building and sanitary inspectorr
now, th€ Departrnent of the Inte- also turned a blind eye to en.
rior and Local Governmenfs croachments on easements b1
(DII,G) deadline for Metro Manila businessmenandresidents. :

Former Health Secretary
md now Iloilo Rep. Janette
iarin claims that the current
lengue outbreak may have
)een prevented through the
raccine.
research by Sanofi Pasteur
showed that the vaccine in-
creased the risk of severe infec-
tion in children who were
"dengue-naive."
This brings to mind the zo16
administration conduct mass
vaccination in schools? Was
Garin unaware of this risk at
that time?
Was the "school-based mass
$H[RP EOOT$ vaccination" a creation of the
mayors to clear roads of obstruc- With the, DILG move, yor
tions, such as illegally parked ve- can now say goodbye to yout
hicles, basketball courts, vendors' daily "matic" from illegal ven.
stalls and barangay halls, will ex- dors in Divisoria and Baclaran
pire. Interior Secretnry Eduardo Bye bye, too, to your daily "kol
Ano has threatened to suspend tong" from illegal terminals al

But senators are not keen on
:he suggestion as controversies
:ontinue to hound the use of
)engvaxia which is manufac-
ured by Sanofi Pasteur.
On May t, the US Food and
)rug Administration (FDA) aP-
rroved the use of Dengvaxia on
)atients between 9 and 16 years
lld, with a "laboratory-docu-
Dengvaxia mass vaccination
initiated by Garin without first
checking if the beneficiaries
had previously' bontracted
dengue.
The Department of Health
records showed that out of
72g,ro1 Grade 4 students who
were ,given the, vaccine, only
534,393 had "aPProved Parental
JAKE J. MADERAZO
consent': in Metro Manila and
the Central Luzon and Calabar-
zon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas,
Rizal and Quezon) regions.
Even the Philippine General
Hospital's Dengue Investigative
Task Force was unable to deter-
\it
Brw -Al'
previous administration or part
of Sanofi Pasteur's experiments
on its vaccine?
What about the dengue-
naive Grade 4 students who re-
ceived the vaccine then? How
are they now and how are their
parents who also face increased
risk of severe dengue?
It is easy to assPme that
mayors who will not do their jobs.
Metropolitan Manila Deve-
lopment Authority General Ma-
nager lojo Garcia says about 3o
percent of Metro Manila's rogds
are obstructed. Blame this on lo-
cal governments who issued "pay
or overnight parking permits" for
public roads or "hawkers per-
mits" for sidewalk vendors, cre-
Lawton, Commonwealth, Osmel
na Highway, Edsa and C-5. 6rOl
I
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