THE government will continue performing autopsies on children who died from severe dengue after receiving the controversial vaccine that was supposed to protect them against the mosquito-borne disease.

In a press conference on Monday, Palace spokesman Harry Roque said performing autopsies was needed to find out the truth, especially after the the Dengue Investigative Task Force, consisting of doctors and experts from the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital(UP-PGH) found that three of 14 deaths may have been caused by Dengvaxia.

“Of the 14 cases, nine died of cases not related to dengue or the vaccine, two could not be ascertained due to lack of information, and three were diagnosed as dengue shock. Of the three, the two others who died with dengue shock (syndrome) were considered as vaccine failures based on serology test,” Roque told Palace reporters.

“We are flatly rejecting the call to stop autopsies. We will perform autopsies as they are required because we need to find the truth,” he said.

In a separate press conference also on Monday, officials from the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) and Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) echoed the Palace.

“We were provided licensed pathologists from the Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center to help in conducting the autopsies and study the results,” Dr. Erwin Erfe, PAO forensic expert, told The Manila Times.

Erfe clarified that PAO need not be questioned because it has been transparent with its results.

“Si Dr. Erfe, 2004 pa namin ‘yan forensic expert. Bakit nila kinekwestyon ang kakayanan ng mga doktor namin,” the enraged PAO chief Persida Acosta told the media.

(Dr. Erfe has been our forensic expert since 2004. Why are they questioning the expertise of our doctors?)

“Hindi lang po UP-PGH (University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital) ang experts dito. Minemenos ang kakayahan ng kapwa mo doktor,” lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, legal counsel of VACC, said.

(UP-PGH isn’t the only expert here. Why are you diminishing the expertise of your fellow doctors?)

The government reaction stemmed from calls by Doctors for Public Welfare for PAO to stop its autopsies.

“It makes no sense for many more families to be subjected to the torture of having a loved one exhumed and cut up, only to find out that no useful information was derived from the cruel act,” the group of doctors, scientists, health advocates, and academicians said in a statement.

“We urge the Department of Justice to order PAO to stop performing autopsies on these children, and to leave the matter of determining the cause of death to competent forensic pathologist,” it added.

As this developed, Dengvaxia manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur declined the administration’s plea for a full refund and financial support to alleged victims.

Sanofi said in a statement that agreeing to the proposed refund would imply that the vaccine was “ineffective, which is not the case.”

Roque slammed Sanofi’s latest pronouncement, stressing that it was not absolved yet since the investigations on the Dengvaxia mess were ongoing.

“There is a complaint that they did not fully disclose the side effects of the vaccine. While the UP-PGH finding said that nine (deaths) are not Dengvaxia-related, it does not mean that they are not liable,” Roque said.

“They must be dreaming if they think they’re off the hook. We’re just letting the investigation to be completed,” he said.

PAO and VACC officials said they would file civil and administrative cases against those who spearheaded the controversial dengue immunization program.

Acosta said charges would be filed in connection with the death of 10-year old Anjielica Pestillos, the first Dengvaxia case PAO had handled.

Erfe said results from Pestillos’ autopsy indicated that her body was weak when she received the vaccine. This resulted in her contraction of a viscerotropic-like disease, which included bleeding of the lungs and other internal organs linked to the symptoms of severe dengue.

“Dapat initially excluded na si Pestillos dahil mahina na ang katawan niya prior to the vaccination. Wala naman siyang naging history ng dengue,” Erfe said.

(Pestillos should have been excluded initially because her body was weak prior to the vaccination. She doesn’t have a history of dengue.)

PAO said additional charges would be filed as soon as it finished collating the findings in other cases. CATHERINE VALENTE, GLEE JALEA