The Public Attorney’s Office has received another complaint following the death of a 13-year-old girl, and supposedly as a result of the Dengvaxia vaccine.
PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta said the number of Dengvaxia-related deaths had risen to 148 following the girl’s death as reported by her parents who hail from Parañaque City.
The parents, whose names were not released, asked PAO to examine the remains of their child to validate the cause of her death.
PAO said the victim, who received her first Dengvaxia shot in 2016, was taken to a hospital on Oct. 29 due to high fever and vomiting, but then died on Nov. 1.
Erwin Erfe of PAO’s forensic laboratory stood firm that the kin of those whose deaths were believed to be linked to Dengvaxia had a strong case against former and incumbent health officials, Sanofi Pasteur Inc. and its distributor Zuellig Pharma Corp., and that they were guilty of homicide.
The autopsy on the latest victim discovered brain hemorrhage and enlarged internal organs, among other things, Erfe said.
“There is a strong link to Dengvaxia. It was Sanofi who made a statement that its product could pose higher risks or cause serious effects on a person without prior dengue infection,” Erfe said.
“Sanofi said that.”
He reiterated PAO’s appeal to designate a special court that would hear and litigate only the Dengvaxia complaints filed with the Department of Justice and Quezon City courts.
The relatives of the victims accused former Health Secretary Janette Garin, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III other Health officials and executives of Sanofi Pasteur Inc. and Zuellig Pharma Corp. for the mass Dengvaxia vaccination of over 830,000 children and several adults since 2016.
