By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
The vaccines that we have now are a product of modern technology – they were produced only in the 19th century starting with smallpox vaccination. (The idea,though of immunity is centuries old, I would say since Adam and Eve.) This modern vaccination is part of industrialization wherein science and industry collaborate to manufacture things that can be sold to people. So before the 19th century, people lived without vaccines. How do you think people stayed healthy? We have to thank our Creator for designing our bodies to survive infections and other ailments. It is logical to think that a loving Creator will give us the ability to survive in the environment he gave us.
Yup, our dear Lord and Creator, gave us our bodies the ability to develop immunity to invasions of the countless germs (bacteria, viruses, parasites, etc.) of our bodies. We have wonderful immune mechanisms but I will talk of the process of immune development to infections. The first time we are exposed to a virus like measles virus, we develop specific antibodies against the measles virus. Exposure means we get sick of measles or the infection is there but our defense system is very strong that we don’t manifest the disease and this is called silent or subclinical infection. But whether or not we manifest the disease, our bodies will manufacture antibodies. These antibodies are swimming in our blood 24/7 like an internal defense army. So next time the measles virus enters our bloodstream, these antibodies will shoot them down. Joking aside, they won’t shoot as they don’t have guns. What scientists say is that they will immobilize the viruses or swallow them up so you don’t get the disease twice. Measles infection confers lifelong immunity. The good thing with measles is that there is only one strain of measles. Of course, there is German measles but this is a different virus.
For other diseases like flu and polio and dengue, there are many types. Although there are general defense antibodies, these specific antibodies are customized by our body to the specific type of virus. Thus the polio vaccine we give for babies is composed of 3 serotypes of the polio virus- polio 1, 2 & 3. At least there are only 3 strains of polio virus. How about dengue? At the moment, science has identified 4 strains and I just read a press release that there is a fifth strain. If you get infected with dengue type 1, you develop natural immunity to type 1 only. The problem with dengue as a disease is that, according to studies, subsequent infections pose more danger of hemorrhage which is the dreaded complication of dengue fever. Thus when Bontoc had dengue fever first time in the 1980s, vaccination was not an option although many people were asking if there was a vaccine to prevent dengue.
Now we have Dengvaxia, the controversial dengue vaccine which was approved by the Philippine government in December 2015. You can trust industry not to miss the business opportunity. We are the first Asian country to approve this. As of November 2017, according to reports, there are 830,000 children in Metro Manila, Southern Luzon, Central Luzon and Central Visayas who were vaccinated. Government spent P3.5 billion for vaccines for one million schoolchildren. And then the vaccination was suspended because its manufacturer, Sanofi Pasteur, admitted that its Dengvaxia vaccine may cause more severe case of dengue if given to those who haven’t had the disease before. That’s scary! So with that statement from the manufacturer mismo, now government and parents are worried. Now these children immunized with Dengvaxia have to be monitored for a lifetime. Because you can be infected with dengue at any age. What a burden! And what an unnecessary burden! If only we did not rush to buy and inject. Oh my P3.5 billion could have gone a long way to reach every household to have a clean environment and healthy diet so they won’t get dengue in the first place.
Then there is the HPV vaccine that is being touted as a preventive measure for cervical cancer. HPV stands for human papiloma virus which is a common virus that causes warts. Again there are many strains of HPV. What industry wants us to know is that there are types of HPV infection that can lead to persistent lesions which in turn can develop into cancer like cancer of the cervix. So that’s in women. For men, they say that there’s a possibility that HPV infection can also develop into other forms of cancer like cancer of the anus, mouth or throat. Well, as we have been saying in previous columns, lifestyle is a far more common cause of cancer than these teeny weeny creatures of God. So why spend another P2.1 billion for HPV vaccine that will immunize 350,000 female students? Now a main concern is that Mountain Province is being targeted as one pilot area in CAR for this HPV vaccine. Why Mountain Province when cervical cancer is not in the top ten causes of mortality? Why not in cities with high prevalence of the disease? I learned that it was done in Baguio City but a lot of parents refused to have their daughters get the HPV immunization. What guarantee can we give to the parents that this vaccine will protect their daughter from cervical cancer? And what guarantee that there will be no side effects, even 30 years from immunization? I already expressed to the Department of Health Center for Health Development-CAR that this program should undergo FPIC first. CAR is indigenous people’s territory. As former Dep-ED Secretary Luistro opined in 2015, we need time to study this HPV immunization. I repeat, cervical cancer is not in our top health concerns so there is time to study if we need the vaccine. Diseases of the heart and vascular system is our main concern. It’s the number one cause of death in the Cordillera and the world and that should be where we pour our resources. Fortunately, there’s not a vaccine for high blood pressure. People should not depend on artificial means to prevent disease. Do we like to depend on vaccines for every disease that crops up? At what cost? God has already built-in natural immune systems in our bodies, and for free! What more do we need?
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