There is a growing clamor to bring back Dengvaxia to help address the increasing number of dengue cases.
Even Malaca帽ang says it is open to anything, if it is for the benefit of the people.
Former Health Secretary and now Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin claims that the current dengue outbreak may have been prevented through the vaccine.
But senators are not keen on the suggestion as controversies continue to hound the use of Dengvaxia which is manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur.
On May 1, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of Dengvaxia on patients between 9 and 16 years old, with a 鈥渓aboratory-documented prior infection.鈥�
But it was not recommended for 鈥渋ndividuals who have not previously been infected by one of the four types of virus.鈥�
The US FDA arrived at the decision after post-marketing research by Sanofi Pasteur showed that the vaccine increased the risk of severe infection in children who were 鈥渄engue-naive.鈥�
This brings to mind the 2016 Dengvaxia mass vaccination initiated by Garin without first checking if the beneficiaries had previously contracted dengue.
The Department of Health records showed that out of 729,105 Grade 4 students who were given the vaccine, only 534,303 had 鈥渁pproved parental consent鈥� in Metro Manila and the Central Luzon and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) regions.
Even the Philippine General Hospital鈥檚 Dengue Investigative Task Force was unable to determine how many students were dengue-naive before they were vaccinated.
If Sanofi Pasteur confirms that there is severe infection risk for dengue-naive, or seronegatives, why did the past administration conduct mass vaccination in schools? Was Garin unaware of this risk at that time?
Was the 鈥渟chool-based mass vaccination鈥� a creation of the previous administration or part of Sanofi Pasteur鈥檚 experiments on its vaccine?
What about the dengue-naive Grade 4 students who received the vaccine then? How are they now and how are their parents who also face increased risk of severe dengue?
It is easy to assume that something is terribly wrong here.
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On Sept. 26, or 51 days from now, the Department of the Interior and Local Government鈥檚 (DILG) deadline for Metro Manila mayors to clear roads of obstructions, such as illegally parked vehicles, basketball courts, vendors鈥� stalls and barangay halls, will expire. Interior Secretary Eduardo A帽o has threatened to suspend mayors who will not do their jobs.
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority General Manager Jojo Garcia says about 30 percent of Metro Manila鈥檚 roads are obstructed. Blame this on local governments who issued 鈥減ay or overnight parking permits鈥� for public roads or 鈥渉awkers permits鈥� for sidewalk vendors, created 鈥渄ay and night markets鈥� in commercial districts and other money-making ordinances. Their building and sanitary inspectors also turned a blind eye to encroachments on easements by businessmen and residents.
With the DILG move, you can now say goodbye to your daily 鈥渕atic鈥� from illegal vendors in Divisoria and Baclaran. Bye bye, too, to your daily 鈥渒otong鈥� from illegal terminals at Lawton, Commonwealth, Osme帽a Highway, Edsa and C-5.