Another child who “got vaccinated with the still experimental anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia” had passed away, the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) announced on Tuesday, March 15.
PAO Forensics Chief Dr. Erwin Erfe identified the latest vaccinee as Aeron Dave Susana, 15, a resident of General Trias City in Cavite.
“Pang-166 po sa mga Dengvaxia vaccinees na na-autopsy po for forensic examination ng PAO forensic team (This is the 166th Dengvaxia vaccinee who had been autopsied by the PAO forensics team),” Erfe during a Facebook live interview.
He said the autopsy was conducted after Susana died last March 14.
“Humingi po ng tulong sa VACC, sa samahan ng mga magulang ang anak ay nabakunahan ng Dengvaxia at sa Public Attorney’s Office at humingi rin po ng tulong sa PAO forensic team upang magkaroon ng forensic examination dito sa labi ng biktima (The family sought help of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, the organization of parents whose children were vaccinated with Dengvaxia, the PAO, and the PAO forensics team for the conduct of the autopsy,” Effe said.
He noted that the boy completed his doses of Dengvaxia on April 2016, October 2016, and September 2016.
He said that PAO learned from the family members that the boy started to show symptoms in 2018 when he started having nosebleeds, and complaining of headaches and stomach aches.
Susana eventually suffered from seizures and paralysis in the upper lower extremities, he noted.
In 2019, Erfe said Susana became paralyzed and suffered more episodes of seizures as well as blindness.
Based on initial findings conducted on the remains, Erfe said the boy had a swollen brain and massive bleeding in the gastrointestinal track.
“So far ang findings na ito ay consistent with our previous findings doon sa 165 na mga bata at matanda na na-examine namin na nagkaroon ng paglaki ng internal organs at pagdurugo sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng katawan at internal organs (The findings is consistent with the autopsy the PAO forensics team conducted on the other 165 dead dengvaxia vaccinees who showed swelling and bleeding of internal organs),” he also said.
He reminded that the Dengvaxia manufacturer, French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur, had informed the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) that the vaccine can cause any of the four serious side effects -- severe dengue, neurotropism, viscerotropism and anaphylaxis.
But Erfe lamented that only the FDA knew about the adverse effects when the Department of Health (DOH) started rolling out Dengvaxia and vaccinated almost one million persons, mostly children.
“Lumabas lang itong four serious adverse effects na ito during the hearings sa Senado (The four serious side effects only surfaced during the Senate hearings on Dengvaxia),” he recounted.
He added that based on the information that the PAO received from a DOH insider back in 2017, there have been over 600 vaccinees who have died.