AMID THE holiday merrymaking and the rising election fever comes good news in public health: the approval of the vaccine against the deadly dengue virus, much-needed given the startling figures in the Philippines alone: an average of 100,000 infections every year.
A deadly disease first identified in the 1950s and spread by the bite of the female Aedes aegypti mosquito, dengue was first documented in the Philippines and Thailand but has since spread quickly—and, in many cases, wildly—in over 100 countries in the world. Incidence has been estimated at 390 million infections a year, and some 3.9 billion people at risk after having increased its presence times 30. Like other mosquitoes, the Aedes aegypti breeds in manmade surroundings, so it is perfect for flourishing in urban environments, biting from morning to late afternoon.
The disease manifests after 4-10 days, usually in a high fever and flu-like symptoms. There is no cure for it, and patients are kept alive through the maintenance of body fluids until they recover. If detected early, dengue can be fought; medical attention can lower the mortality rate from over 20 percent to under 1 percent.
But these are facts with which Filipinos are all too familiar. Dengue bloomed like a deadly hothouse flower in this country, killing so many before it could be battled. In the process, so many horror stories surrounding dengue have emerged.
There are stories of completely healthy people being waylaid by dengue and dying within days; of hospitals choked with patients; of families where one member contracts it but soon every member is afflicted. Worse, it seems that everyone you know knows someone who has died from it. If social media were a mosquito-borne virus, it would truly be Dengue Philippines.
But even as virtually all Filipinos know about it, dengue remains formidable in a country where urbanization is high but proper hygiene is problematic. It seems that now that people know they can survive it with proper medical help, they don’t worry too much about it.
That’s a bad attitude to take, and the numbers reflect it. The Department of Health recorded 108,263 dengue cases this year, and 300 deaths. Malacañang said the government was succeeding in its fight against the disease. “Dengue is on the decline in many provinces,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said. Citing Department of Health data, he observed that only the provinces of Cavite and Bulacan had declared a state of calamity to enable the local government units to access funds for meeting the exigencies caused by the disease. That’s encouraging news, but still…
The best news, of course, is the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the antidengue vaccine Dengvaxia. The Philippines is the first country in Asia to approve it. Developed by the French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi, it was first approved in Mexico and is being reviewed by the governments of 20 countries.
The use of Dengvaxia may just be the real point where humans can turn back the disease. “Prevention of dengue is an urgent and growing medical priority in the Philippines,” said Dr. May Book-Montellano, president of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination. “Vaccination is widely accepted as one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce the spread of infectious diseases like dengue.”
The vaccine will be available only in private clinics and hospitals by next month. Its wide availability depends on the World Health Organization’s prequalification and guidelines, as well as the procurement and funding processes, according to Health Secretary Janette Garin. But she said the DOH is also considering making the vaccine a Philippine Health Insurance Corp. benefit, so it can be available to members at a “very discounted price.”
A great gift, but dengue is no pushover. It’s a frightening disease (with four strains) to which children are particularly vulnerable. And even if the vaccine would be available to the public soon (it’s yet unclear if the lower-income sectors would be able to afford it), an intensive education campaign on the mosquito-borne disease is imperative: People have to be educated on the necessity of clean surroundings, with no stagnant water in which the deadly mosquitoes can breed. The children’s future literally depends on this education campaign.