DENGVAXIA. The world’s first anti-dengue vaccine is administered to Filipino grade-schoolers under the government’s school-based dengue immunization program. File photo by Joel Liporada/Rappler
By Michaeleen Doucleff/npr.org – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration just approved one of the most sought-after vaccines in recent decades. It’s the world’s first vaccine to prevent dengue fever — a disease so painful that its nickname is “breakbone fever.”
The vaccine, called Dengvaxia, is aimed at helping children in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories where dengue is a problem.
But this vaccine has a dark — and deadly — history. One that has lead to criminal charges in the Philippines, sparked national panic and fueled a massive measles outbreak that has already killed more than 355 people.
The Concern
That story begins on a stage in Manila in 2016.
A young girl, about age 9 or 10, sat on a chair surrounded by health officials. She wore a bright yellow T-shirt with the words “Dengue is dangerous” across it. She squeezed her eyes and bit her lip as the health secretary of the Philippines, Dr. Janette Garin, gave her a shot in the arm.
That shot launched a massive vaccine campaign to inoculate nearly one million schoolchildren with Dengvaxia. The goal was to save thousands of kids’ lives and prevent an estimated 10,000 hospitalizations over a five-year period.
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