Amid vaccine concerns: Capitol probes infant’s death

CEBU, Philippines —  A separate investigation is now underway by the Cebu Provincial Health Office (PHO) into the death of a seven-month-old child in Dumanjug after the family raised questions about the child’s Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccination.

PHO chief Dr. Sheila Faciol said in an interview that the office immediately dispatched a team to Dumanjug after receiving the report on Thursday to gather information that could help clarify the circumstances surrounding the child’s death.

“Atong ipadangat ang kasubo nu nga gihiaguman sa bata. But for now pagkadawat nato sa report yesterday, ang atong team (from PHO) ato dayong gipadala sa Dumanjug,” said Faciol.

She said the PHO team is expected to gather relevant information needed to answer questions surrounding the child’s condition before and after the vaccination.

“Nanghinaot ta nga makuha nila tanang information para makahatag ta og tubag sa atong pangutana. Kay ako pud nangutana kung unsa kaha ang instance ba,” she said.

Faciol said the information currently available to her confirmed that the child received a vaccination on August 10.

The PHO investigation comes as the family continues to raise questions about a possible connection between the child’s vaccination and death.

However, Faciol stressed that the circumstances surrounding the case still need to be established through the investigation.

The Dumanjug Municipal Health Office earlier clarified that no conclusion had been reached on whether the vaccination was related to the child’s death.

The Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) has also initiated a formal Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) investigation to determine the facts and establish whether there was any causal relationship between the vaccination and the child’s death.

The child’s mother, identified in a public Facebook post as Luzel Zozobrado, said her daughter received the MR vaccine on August 10 and died on August 24.

In posts following her daughter’s death, Zozobrado questioned whether the administration of several vaccines and vitamin A during the same visit may have contributed to the child’s condition.

She said the child remained active after receiving the vaccines.

According to one of her posts, the child began experiencing heavy vomiting on the afternoon of August 23 before developing a high fever early the following day.

The mother said the fever reached as high as 40 degrees Celsius.

The family initially sought medical attention at the Dumanjug Rural Health Unit but reportedly could not have the child attended to because of the number of patients and the cut-off.

The child was subsequently brought to the Barili District Hospital, where the family said she was already in critical condition.

A medical certificate posted by the mother indicated acute respiratory failure as the immediate cause of death, with septic shock as the antecedent cause and status epilepticus as the underlying cause.

Faciol, meanwhile, pushed back against what she described as the sensationalization of vaccine-related concerns.

She stressed the importance of immunization in preventing measles, particularly among children.

“Despite gud na grabi jud sa pag sensationalized sa kadaot sa vaccine, we take note that vaccines are there, they are safe, effective nga di ta magka measles, kay delikado man labaw na sa mga bata, pwede mamatay ang bata tungod sa measles,” she said.

She also appealed to mothers to listen to health authorities while the investigation into the Dumanjug case continues.

“Atong message lang, sa mga mother, im a mother myself, ang akong mga anak of course nabakunahan nga maminaw sa health authorities nga mas nakabalo ani,” the health chief said.

“Dili mani pinugsanay, but we really want to encourage in order to save our babies for measles,” she added.

The MR Supplemental Immunization Activity began on August 10 and covers children aged six months to 59 months in Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor, as well as the highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue.

The health department has set a target of at least 95 percent vaccination coverage under the campaign, which aims to protect children and help prevent measles and rubella outbreaks.(CEBU NEWS)