A real Vaccine scandal

Most cases of dengue fever are mild, but a small percent go into the severe hemorrhagic form of the disease: and this severe form is more common if you get a second infection from a different strain of the disease.

so when it was announced that a fancy new "WHO" (World Health Organization) approved vaccine was being given to hundreds of thousands of kids here in the Philippines, a lot of medical folks questioned the decision: specifically, would the immune response to the vaccine lead to fewer cases of mild dengue but more cases of the potentially fatal severe form of the disease?

Now, the NYTimes reveals that the (French) drug company manufacturing the vaccine has warned of possible problems.

The company said further clinical studies had revealed that, in those who had previously had dengue, the vaccine could prevent repeat infection. But for those who had not had dengue, and were vaccinated and later became infected, “more cases of severe disease could occur,” Sanofi said in the advisory. With more than 740,000 elementary school students in the Philippines having already received Dengvaxia vaccinations, the government decided to halt the program for the time being.

more HERE and HERE 
the vaccine is expensive: 1000 pesos a shot (i.e. $20 USD) and you need three doses.

the good news: there hasn't been a huge outbreak of the severe form of the disease and in our area, dengue cases are down 44%. Does this mean the vaccine is saving lives? Or just normal fluctuations of the disease due to weather etc?

and since it is the Philippines, a lot of folks wonder if small gifts facilitated the program. Timeline of the program at Rappler.

we traditionally have a few thousand cases diagnosed each year, but often if people just feel achy and have a fever, they don't see a physician, so many mild cases are undiagnosed.