Sanofi, the big French pharmaceutical company, made an announcement earlier last month that their Dengue vaccine (Dengvaxia) was successful in preventing repeat infections in those who have had dengue. For patients who haven’t had a dengue infection, the vaccine may make them more susceptible to worse symptoms if they were to be infected with a different strain after getting the vaccine. This announcement caused the Philippines to suspend their vaccination program that had previously been a school-based program. The Philippines experiences a high rate of dengue infection every year, with about 25,000 people dying every year from the disease. The school program had already vaccinated approximately 740,000 school children, but now plans to wait for a review from the pharmaceutical company. Health advocates of the Philippines had worried about the government’s rush to implement a program in school for administering Dengvaxia as it was a relatively new vaccine that health officials didn’t know the long term effects of, but the government pushed ahead. The clinical trials of the vaccine have now shown that the danger of severe dengue infection after vaccination are confirmed, and now, we wait on the Philippine government’s next move.
-Meley Gebresellassie
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