Herbosa: Dengue vaccines should be doctor-based

Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said there is no need for a nationwide dengue vaccination campaign, just “physician-based immunization.”

“It probably should not be a nationwide program, it should be a physician-based immunization. That means you go to your physician who will review your medical history or your history of previous dengue, and then probably do some serologic test and then recommend to you if that is needed,” he said in a press briefing in Malacañang on Tuesday.

He noted that vaccines should only be administered after a first dengue infection.

“The dengue vaccine has the greatest value in the immunization of someone who has had a first infection of dengue. That means it protects them from the second which is usually the one that is dengue hemorrhagic or severe dengue, so it prevents a more serious illness,” Herbosa explained.

In May, the World Health Organization cleared a Japan-made dengue vaccine, allowing nations with a dengue outbreak to have the option of procuring the vaccine.

Herbosa said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is processing the new vaccine from Japan which is superior to previous vaccines according to studies.

“We were informed that the FDA is processing a new vaccine. I wouldn’t say the brand, but it’s from Japan. The studies are superior to that of the previous one, the first one. So I am just waiting for whether they will give them a CPR (certificate of product registration) or sustained release or whatever issuance,” he said.

He added that once it is approved by the FDA, the private sector will be the first to get it.

“When they do that, it’s the private sector that will get it first. So then we will study it, by law, if that one is approved and we want to implement it, it goes to two steps, the National Immunization and Technical Advisory group, which is a group within DoH, and then the HTAC, the Health Technology Assessment Council, which is under the DoST. This was placed under the Universal Health Care Act. So PhilHealth will fund it,” he said.

As of 6 September, the Philippines has logged 208,965 dengue cases, which is 68 percent higher than the cases recorded in the same period in 2023.

However, the Department of Health said dengue this year has a lower fatality rate of 0.26 percent, or 546 deaths, compared to last year’s 0.39 percent.

Herbosa said this is due to better case management and health-seeking behaviors.