Parents of two children who allegedly died due to the controversial anti-Dengue vaccine, with them is PAO chief Persida Acosta / photo from Manila Times (ctto) |
Two parents of schoolchildren who allegedly died due to the debated
Dengvaxia vaccine surfaced on Tuesday at the Department of Justice (DOJ.
The families were demanding for accountability for their
loss, though Department of Health stressed that there has been no confirmed
death in the country caused by the anti-dengue vaccine.
Accompanied by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption
(VACC) and Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) the parents of Christine Mae de
Guzman and Anjielica Pestilos went public to detail how the two girls died.
The children were both 10 years old, both died months after
being injected with the anti-Dengue vaccine.
One of the parents have already submitted a sworn affidavit
to pursue a case against those liable behind the P3.5 billion immunization program
that have gone wrong.
According to De Guzman’s father, Chirstine Mae received the
vaccine on April 16, 2016 through a school vaccination program at Sisiman Elementary
School in Mariveles, Bataan.
“While we were being asked for information, we were told
that we should be thankful to the government because the anti-dengue vaccine is
free. If we would get it from private hospitals, it would cost around P4,500 to
P5,000,” stated in the affidavit submitted by De Guzman’s father.
He recalled that after six months since the vaccine, Christine
Mae experienced headache and high fever, after two days, she was diagnosed with
severe dengue.
Meanwhile, parents of the other girl said that Anjielica
died three months after also receiving the Dengvaxia.
In a report of PAO forensic office, death certificate of
Anjielica indicates she died of lupus but forensic expert Erwin Erfe explained that
there was also a manifestation that the girl died of severe dengue.
Also, both girls did not have dengue prior to vaccination.
“In both cases, the victims never suffered previous dengue
exposure before, were both vaccinated with Dengvaxia and have died from severe
dengue,” forensic expert pointed out.
PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta, on the other hand, assured
the families that they provide legal assistance and file a class suit against
those who are liable for the vaccine fiasco.
Source: Philstar
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