Dengue vaccine tested in Phl

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines – A vaccine against dengue developed by a French pharmaceutical firm was tested on some 2,000 children in Laguna last month and was found to be effective.

Health Assistant Secretary Enrique Tayag revealed this during the recent 10th Blood Galloner Awards held in Malolos City, Bulacan.

Since the long-awaited dengue vaccine may yet be available by 2014, Tayag said the public must continue to observe usual precautions against the mosquito-borne disease that has led to many deaths over the years.

Tayag said tests on about 2,000 children in Laguna last month proved the vaccine to be both safe and effective. He said clinical trials were also done in Cebu City.

Still, Tayag said the vaccine still has to pass all evaluation and more tests before its target release in 2014.

Meanwhile, Tayag encouraged voluntary blood donations for the needs of victims of dengue, which the World Health Organization has described as the “fastest emerging arboviral infection” in the world. Blood transfusion is needed in severe cases of dengue.

Tayag, also the chief of the National Epidemiology Center, said there is a difference between voluntary blood donation and patient-directed donors, or those who are referred to by the patient.

He also warned against blood transfusion from donors, including relatives whose medical history is unknown.

Tayag said dengue can be a communicable disease through unsafe blood transfusion in the same way that such transfusion could also contaminate one with hepatitis, malaria, syphilis or AIDS.

Tayag cited the need for the public to carry out the so-called “4-S” to prevent dengue: search and destroy mosquito breeding sites, self-protection measures; seeking early treatment; and saying no to indiscriminate fogging.

Dengue symptoms include high fever, rashes, vomiting, stomach pains, nose bleeding, low platelet count, and difficulty in breathing.

Researchers worldwide have been working on a dengue vaccine for almost 60 years, and for the first time, the vaccine is being tested in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia.