Another death attributed by PAO to anti-dengue vaccine
Another recipient of the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia has passed away, the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) said on Wednesday, Dec. 16.
PAO forensics laboratory director Dr. Erwin Erfe identified the deceased whose death is being attributed to the Dengvaxia vaccinee as Crisa Mae Porcia, 15, a resident of Antipolo City, Rizal.
Erfe said the PAO Forensics Team (PAOFT) conducted an autopsy of Porcia at the request of the family following the girl’s death last Dec. 14 at the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City.
“She is the PAOFT’s 160th Dengvaxia case,” the forensics expert said.
PAOFT medical specialist Dr. Alex Sulit said the autopsy of the girl showed that Porcia’s immediate cause of death was "cerebral hemorrhage and edema; pulmonary hemorrhage and edema."
“General findings also include multiple organ enlargement and hemorrhage,” Sulit added.
“But what is clear is that the recipient dies in the same manner as the others we examined before, even if some circumstances were different,” the doctor declared.
He said Porcia’s family revealed that she received three doses of Dengvaxia.
“But what is worse in this case is that none of these vaccinations was done with the signed or informed consent of either parent,” the doctor lamented.
“She never had dengue and was never hospitalized prior to vaccination,” he added.
PAO has been following the 2017 order of then Justice Sec. Vitaliano Aguirre II to “extend free legal assistance in civil, criminal and administrative cases to all possible victims of Dengvaxia related injuries, illnesses and deaths.”
Just last Nov. 25, the PAO assisted families in filing 99 criminal complaints before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against 41 respondents including Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and former Health Secretary and now Iloilo 1st District Representative Janette Garin
The sixth batch of Dengvaxia cases filed last Nov. 25 concerns the death of 98 Dengvaxia victims and the suffering endured by male survivor.