Report on Dengvaxia cases misleading, says doctor

Re: Inquirer.net article, “SC orders trials of all Dengvaxia cases transferred to a single court” by Darryl John Esguerra.

We call your attention to the inaccurate and misleading statements contained therein:

Sanofi Pasteur Inc. did not recall Dengvaxia in 2017 nor at any other time. The vaccine is currently used globally and was in fact made an essential medicine by the World Health Organization in 2019. The FDA Philippines revoked the product certification due to alleged lack of documentation which Sanofi Pasteur denies.

The “reported cases of death among children who received Dengvaxia shots due to severe dengue” and “claims of families of victims” are not factual. There are no confirmed cases of deaths due to Dengvaxia vaccination as of now worldwide. Your reporter is citing a source (Erfe) who is not a pathologist and who conducted fake autopsies that are the basis for the charges.

As of today, 8 of these cases filed in various Municipal Trial Courts have been dismissed.

As such, these misleading statements and omissions tend to cast aspersions on the persons being charged with nonexistent crimes. This is contrary to your professed philosophy of “Balanced News Fearless Views”.

Further, the article fans the flames of anti-vaccine sentiments at a time of the pandemic when COVID-19 vaccines are being developed which will be impacted by such misleading statements. We need to have fair and open minds regarding vaccine acceptance and your story slant certainly does not help in this regard.

Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go