 |
| © Provided by GMA News Online |
MANILA - The remains of a 12-year-old boy who received two doses of the Dengvaxia vaccine were exhumed Thursday in San Isidro, Nueva Ecija to undergo an autopsy by the Public Attorney's Office (PAO).
On a "24 Oras" report by Ivan Mayrina, the mother of Melvin Karl Elipane explained that her son displayed severe symptoms at home, immediately after he received his second dose of Dengvaxia at school.
"'Yung dalawang shot po kasi niya, pag-uwi ng bahay, kasi sa school nangyari...totally hilo na po kasi talaga siya eh. Kaya po nung ano, namamanhid na po 'yung katawan, hirap huminga kaya kinabukasan po, diretso na ospital," Janet Elipane said.
Prior to Melvin Karl, the PAO has performed autopsies on 20 children who died of severe symptoms after receiving the world's first dengue vaccine through the government's nationwide vaccination program launched in April 2016.
The program was only discontinued last December after the drug's manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur warned against administering it to those with no prior dengue infection.
By that time, more than 800,000 schoolchildren under the program had already received Dengvaxia doses.
PAO said its forensic experts found a common denominator of inflammation and bleeding from the brain, lungs and various internal organs among the exhumed children.
Last week a group of doctors, scientists and other health experts earlier called on PAO to stop its autopsies, saying that none of the 14 autopsies it had done at the time shows that the deaths were related to the Dengvaxia vaccine.
In the 24 Oras report, officials of the Department of Health (DOH) also disagreed that the PAO's findings showed a link between the deaths and the vaccine, saying they only found three cases where the vaccinated child died of severe dengue.
"Alam natin talaga na dengue nang ikinamatay nila, I'm sure sa autopsy makikita natin na dengue ang ikinamatay. Kaya lang, kung ano 'yung naging mechanism, kung ano 'yung association sa vaccine atsaka sa death, kailangan pa nating malaman," Health Undersecretary Rolando Enrique Domingo said in the report.
"Ang gusto talaga ng panel [of experts] is to do a more thorough study. Pag-send ng sample usually ng mga organs, ng tissues para makita kung may ma-isolate tayo diyan na mga dengue virus," he added.
The DOH had asked the PAO for samples taken from their earlier autopsies, but the attorney's office refused, saying the cases they plan to file may possibly include officials from the health department.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III slammed the PAO's decision, saying: "We are supposed to be one government here. We are supposed to be helping each other. We're supposed to be complementing each other." The PAO has yet to comment on this as of the report.
Meanwhile, the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) raised that Duque could be held liable for obstruction of justice in his refusal to provide them with documents related to the Dengvaxia-related cases they plan to file.
"He is not a lawyer. That's why he doesn't know the legal intricacies of the case. Pag mayroon pong namatay, merong legality involved diyan, di po ba? Kasi there may be criminal liability," said VACC lawyer Manuel Luna.
In response, Duque maintained he has already provided documents to all bodies "authorized" to conduct an investigation on the Dengvaxia mess.
"I have already sent all the documents upon the subpoena by the Senate. So nasa Senado lahat 'yan. 'Yung NBI, may nag-subpoena sa amin, binigay na rin namin ang dokumento sa NBI [National Bureau of Investigation]," said the Health Secretary.
"So these are the authorized investigating bodies. Ang mga dokumentong hiningi nila, nasa DOJ [Department of Justice], NBI, at Senado na silang authorized na agencies na mag-imbesitiga," he added. — Margaret Claire Layug/BM
No comments:
Post a Comment