(Eagle News) — Drug manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur on Thursday, June 15, acknowledged that the risk of “severe disease” in those administered the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia was higher if they did not previously contract dengue.
“In this supplementary analysis, we found an increased incidence of (such) in vaccinated people without a prior infection compared to unvaccinated people without a prior infection,” Sanofi Pasteur said in a statement.
The drug company’s pronouncement was essentially an acknowledgment also of recent study findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The authors said the vaccine could prevent around 11,000 hospitalizations and 2,500 cases of severe dengue if it was given to 1 million children above the age of 9.
If, however, it was given to children who were not infected with dengue beforehand, the study said Dengvaxia could lead to 1,000 hospitalizations and 500 severe cases of dengue.
“More importantly, the degree of severity of the disease in vaccinated individuals responded well to medical care and all individuals recovered fully,” Sanofi noted.
It noted also that the New England study “confirms the vaccine’s potential to prevent dengue, particularly severe dengue (84%) and hospitalizations due to dengue (80%) for the 5-year follow-up period of the study in individuals 9 years of age or older who have had a prior dengue infection.”
Sanofi Pasteur officials and several others are facing charges for their alleged non-disclosure of the adverse effects of the vaccine, which was used in a national vaccination program started under then-President Benigno Aquino III’s term.
Over 800,000 were vaccinated under the program.
