DOH orders probe if Cebu infants’ deaths due to pentavalent vaccine

Mars W. Mosqueda Jr.

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

DOH orders probe if Cebu infants’ deaths due to pentavalent vaccine
Lapu-Lapu health officer Dr Rodolfo Berame says: 'It was already the second dose for those babies. If it was vaccine-related, they could have died on first dose.'

 

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said he would order the Central Visayas office of the Department of Health (DOH) to investigate the case of two infants who died from meningitis and dehydration 3 days after they were given the pentavalent vaccines by barangay health workers in Pajac, Lapu-Lapu City.

Pentavalent combines 5 vaccines in a single vial. It protects against 5 diseases: diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib).

In an interview with local radio station Aksyon Radyo Cebu – DYRC on Tuesday, November 14, Duque said the incident needs to be investigated because of the timing of the deaths of the two infants.

“We have to have that investigated because the timing of the deaths is too suspicious. I have immediately ordered the regional director of DOH VII to investigate how it happened,” Duque said in Filipino.

In response, DOH Central Visayas has tasked the Regional Epedimiology Surveillance Unit to determine the circumstances leading to the deaths of Ghirvaughn Mcreign Limpangog, 4 months, and Ayesha Mae Suson, 3 months. 

Their death certificates showed that Limpangog died from meningitis while Suson succumbed to acute gastroenteritis leading to severe dehydration. 

Their parents, however, claimed the two infants became ill after they received the pentavelent vaccines on November 8. The two died on November 11 at 2:20 pm at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

The parents also claimed that they were turned down by private hospitals where they brought their babies first because they did not have the needed downpayment.

Lapu-Lapu City health officer Dr Rodolfo Berame said their initial investigation found no lapses among the health workers involved in the vaccination. He also said the vaccine was set to expire on June 30, 2018, yet. 

In fact, almost 90 children were immunized on November 8. The vaccines are given to children to protect them from diseases, he said.

“I feel that [the deaths] were not vaccine-related because it was already the second dose for those babies. If it was vaccine-related, they could have died on first dose,” Berame told reporters.

Despite the complaints of the parents of the two infants, the DOH VII said it would not order the suspension of the giving of pentavalent vaccines to kids aged 6 weeks to 4 months.

“Our investigation is ongoing, although I can say that the babies received the immunization at the right time and at the right age,” said Dr Sophia Mancao, assistant regional director of DOH Central Visayas. – Rappler.com 

 

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