The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday said that it had tapped experts from the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) to validate the alleged deaths among children administered with the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia. “We are being transparent to erase doubts from other sectors that the DOH might be concealing information relevant to Dengvaxia vaccination,” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in a press briefing. The Public Attorney’s Office earlier presented to the Department of Justice (DOJ) the parents of 10-year-old Anjielica Pestilos and 11-year-old Christine Mae de Guzman, who both died allegedly due to severe dengue months after receiving the world’s first dengue vaccine. “The advantage of having PGH is that they are going to have multiple specialists and people who are the best in their fields,” he said. The DOH assured the public that PhilHealth coverage would be available for all those given the vaccine under government-sponsored programs.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 21, 2017 23:03 UTC