Thought Paper on Crisis on the 2016 Dengvaxia Problem

Since time immemorial, the advancement of knowledge in the field of medicine has
been continually increasing and surpassing breakthroughs. Throughout the years, the cure
for several infections has been known and growing interests in related research and
development remains to be the foundation of medicine. One of the most remarkable parts
of history of science and medicine is the development of vaccines from the late 19 th century
in which contributed greatly to controlling disease outbreaks like smallpox, polio, and
tuberculosis, as well as mitigating its fatalities (Plotkin, 2014). However, not all were
successful vaccine stories as records of side effects and deaths were reported in some
countries. Thus, this calls for a more comprehensive research and thorough knowledge
before deploying it for the use of the public.

In the Philippine setting, one of the major controversies relating to vaccines is the
Dengvaxia vaccine failure back in 2016 which killed over 600 Filipinos mostly children and
put more than 80,000 school children at an increased risk of Dengue infection (Lo, 2019).
During that time, there has been a significant rise in the number of people diagnosed with
Dengue which is a mosquito-borne viral infection (Fatima and Syed, 2019). With the hopes
of controlling the spread of the disease that has been studied for several years, one of the
biggest multinational pharmaceutical companies called Sanofi developed the first ever
Dengue vaccine which was later approved to be used by many countries. However,
according to the World Health Organization (WHO), Dengvaxia needed further studies as it
was found to be ineffective and makes people who have not had Dengue more prone to the
infection. Hence, a loud roar sparked among the public instigating the government’s
negligence and lack of action about the issue as it has been implemented among vaccine
campaigns in school without conducting further studies about it.

The Dengvaxia vaccine mishap has indeed taken a toll among the Filipino public and
has caused vaccine hesitancy (Fatima and Syed, 2019) due to fear of the side effects caused
by vaccination. With the current COVID-19 pandemic faced by the country, Dengvaxia
failure may give an impact on how the people will view vaccines and may be a limiting factor
in attaining herd immunity against the virus. Despite the government’s continuous
campaigns for mass vaccination, the fear and lack of trust of the people should also be taken
into consideration. These circumstances call for the government’s efforts in strengthening
the country’s research and development and spreading awareness among communities
about the importance of vaccines and the possible side effects it may give to people. Thus,
transparency shall be promoted between the government and the people in order to have a
proper coordination and strategic process of controlling the pandemic.

References:
CNN Philippines (n.d.). TIMELINE: The Dengvaxia controversy. Retrieved from
https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/12/09/The-Dengvaxia-controversy.html

Fatima, K., & Syed, N. I. (2018, December). Dengvaxia controversy: Impact on vaccine
hesitancy. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6214489/

Lo, C. (2019, December 16). Dengvaxia in the Philippines: Timeline of the dengue dilemma.
Retrieved from https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/features/dangvaxia-
philippines/

Plotkin, S. (2014, August 26). History of vaccination. Retrieved from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4151719/