Already three deaths in connection with controversial dengue vaccine

Deaths related to dengue vaccine from the drug company Sanofi

In the Philippines, three deaths have been linked to a controversial dengue fever vaccine. In recent years, hundreds of thousands of children have been vaccinated with the drug of the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi.

Three deaths in the Philippines have been linked to dengue vaccine

According to media reports, a study by the Philippine government revealed that three deaths in the Southeast Asian country have been linked to a controversial dengue fever vaccine. In recent years, over 800,000 children have been vaccinated with the drug Dengvaxia of the French pharmaceutical manufacturer Sanofi.

In the Philippines, three deaths have been linked to a dengue fever vaccine. Hundreds of thousands of children had been vaccinated with the controversial drug of the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi. (Image: Richard Villalon / fotolia.com)

Despite vaccination died

A representative of the Philippine Ministry of Health said that the investigation had been commissioned after the death of 14 children after Dengvaxia - the world's first dengue vaccine - was reported by Deutsche Welle (DW)..

In three cases, a causal relationship was established. "They died of dengue even though they were given Dengvaxia. Two of them may have died because of a vaccine failure, "said Enrique Domingo of the Department of Health.

Nine others died for reasons that had nothing to do with dengue, while the cause of two more deaths could not be determined.

Sanofi dismissed the allegations, "The University of the Philippines-Philippines General Hospital expert panel confirmed ... that there is currently no evidence to link the Dengvaxia vaccine to any of the 14 deaths," the BBC news channel quoted as saying Opinion of the French group.

Hundreds of thousands of children vaccinated

The Ministry of Health had stopped Dengvaxia vaccinations in November and set up a ten-member expert group to determine if the drug was directly linked to the deaths of the 14 children.

"These findings strengthen the Ministry of Health's decision to stop the vaccine. He failed with some kids, "says Domingo.

"Dengvaxia is not yet ready for mass vaccination, and it would take us another three to five more years to monitor and monitor if there are other unwanted reactions from the vaccine."

According to DW, the 14 children were among the 830,000 who received the vaccine as part of the world's first public dengue immunization program in 2016 and 2017.

A neglected disease

Dengue fever is counted among the so-called "neglected diseases". The infectious disease is transmitted in the tropics and subtropics of the diurnal Asian tiger mosquito. Dengue fever is also widespread in the Philippines.

An effective drug or a safe vaccine against the tropical disease does not yet exist.

The clinical spectrum in the case of infection ranges from mild forms that are almost symptom-free, flu-like symptoms with fever, headache, muscle and limb pain, to cases that cause internal bleeding and vascular damage.

Not all infected develop disease symptoms. Most of the complaints last about a week. In the majority of those affected the dengue disappears without further consequences.

To protect yourself from infection, avoid mosquito bites. (Ad)