STATEMENTONTHEDENGVAXI

ACONTROVERSY
Letusputpubl
i
cwel
far
eabov
eal
lel
se

We, phy siciansandsci enti

stswhoser vet hecount ryi nvari
ouscapaci t
iesandsect or s,ar e
saddened,di smay edandal armedov erthemannerbywhi cht heDengv axi acont roversy
hasdegener at
edi nt oaf i
ascot hathasstar t
edt oer odepubl i
cconf idencei nt hecount r
y ’s
vaccinationpr ogr amsandot herpublichealthcareendeav ors.Theunnecessar yfearand
panic,lar gelybroughtaboutbyt heimprudentl anguageandunsubst anti
at edaccusat i
ons
by per sons whose qual i
fi
cations tor enderany exper topi ni
on on t he mat t erar e
quest i
onabl eatbest ,havecausedmanypar entst or esi
sthav i
ngt heirchildrenav ailofl i
f e
sav i
ngv accinest hatourgov ernmentgi ves.Evendewor mingef f
or tsarebei ngmetwi th
suspicionandr esistance,withmanypar entsaf r
aidt ogiveconsent ;al
lbecauseoft he
mi si
nformat i
ont hathasbeenal lowedtot akehol doft hecollect
iv epsy che.I fthist r
end
continuest hen wemayf i
nd our sel
vesf aced wi th outbreaksofdebi li
tating and l i
f e-
threateningdi seasest hatwehav eal
readybeenabl et ocontrolthr oughourv accination
programs.Theonl ywayt ocont i
nuetopr ev
entdeadl yepi demi csoft hesei nfecti
ous
diseasesi stosust ai
nahi ghr ateofimmuni zation/vaccinati
oni nourpopul ati
on.Thi swi l
l
notbepossi bleifpar entsrefuset oconsentt ov accinati
onf ortheirchildr enbecauseof
fear.

Iti
sal sowi thveryheavyhear t
st hatwehav ewi t
nessedsomehar dwor ki
ng,competent,
honestand dedi cated physici
ansand car eerper sonnelint heDepartmentofHeal th,
systematicall
ymal i
gnedanddepr i
vedoft heirri
ghtt odefendt hemselv
eswhi l
et hosewho
can and shoul d comet ot heirdef ensehav eremained silent.Avail
abledocument ary
evidencet hatmighthav ebeenof f
eredt opr ovethei nnocenceofsomeoft heaccused
hav enotbeenmadepubl i
cf orreasonst hatwecanonl yspecul at
eon.Thepubl i
cheari
ngs
hav ebecomeav enuesfor“exper tbashing”rathert
hanagenui nesearchfortr
uth.

t
h
Therei snosucht hingasaper fectv accine.Thehi storyofv accinati
onf rom the18
centurytothepresentisri
fewithcont rover
sy .Astudyoft hehistoryofthesecont r
oversies
teachesusl essonsaboutt het r
agicconsequencesandhar mt ot hegener alpubli
ct hat
resultwhenweal l
owhy st
eri
ator uleov erl
ogicalandsci ent
if
icjudgment .Themedi caland
scienti
fi
ccommuni t
ymustwei ght herisksofanyv acci
neagainsti t
sbenef i
ts;thepot
ent ial
tosav eli
vesagainstt hepossibl
eadv erseef f
ects.Scienceisal sonotst ati
c.Whennew
fi
ndings are known,r ecommendat i
ons change.These deci sions are bestmade and
analyzedwithouttheaddedburdenofpubl icmi si
nformationanddemoni zati
on.

GiventherecentfindingsofSanof iPasteurandr ecommendat ionsoftheWHO, wesuppor

t
theDOHdeci siontosuspendi tsDengv axi
ai mmuni zat
ionprogram unt i
lther
eisaquick
andcostef f
ect i
vewayt odet ermi newhet heraper sonhashaddenguei nthepastornot
.
I
nt hesamel ight
,givent hefindingst hatpersistent
,longterm protecti
oni sgi
venbythe
vacci
net ot hosewhohav eal readygot t
endenguei nfect
ion,weur getheDOH nott o
removet hev acci
nef rom themar ketaltogether.Alr
eadywear efacedwi thpati
entswho
havehaddenguei nfecti
oninthepast ,whoar enowatal ossbecauset heycannotgett
hei
r
dosesofDengv
axi
abecausei
thasbeent
akenoutoft
hemar
ket
.

urgeourcol
leaguesinthemedicalprofessi
ont
oconsiderthegreat
ergoodinalltheir
st
atement
sandact i
onsandtobecaref
ulaboutunf
air
lysl
anderi
ngcoll
eaguesbycar
eless,
sweepi
ngandunsubstant
iat
edaccusat
ions.

Weur get hosewhohav edocument aryevidencethatcant rulyshedlightonthecurr

ent
contr
ov ersytopleasecomef or
thwi ththetruth.Andwebegourl egi
slator
st obeopento
heari
ng bot h si
des.All
owing hal
f-t
ruths to prevai
lis dangerous.Itnotonl ycauses
persi
stentconf usionbuthasal
socausedmassdemor al
izat
ionamongt hededicat
edand
hardwor kingpersonnelandphysi
ciansoftheDOH.Thi si
sbot hcruel
andunj ust
.

Fi
nal
l
y,ami
dal
lthecont
rov
ersy
,letuspl
easeal
way
sputpubl
i
cwel
far
eabov
eal
lel
se.

ht
tp:
//www.
who.
int
/i
mmuni
zat
ion/
diseases/
dengue/
q_and_
a_dengue_
vacci
ne_
dengv
axi
a_us
e/
en/