Panayam kay DOST Vaccine Development Expert Panel head Dr. Nina Gloriani kaugnay ng update sa mpox vaccine at posibleng deklarasiyon ng dengue outbreak
Panayam kay DOST Vaccine Development Expert Panel head Dr. Nina Gloriani kaugnay ng update sa mpox vaccine at posibleng deklarasiyon ng dengue outbreak
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00:00Updates on MPOX vaccine and possible declaration of dengue outbreak, we will discuss with Dr. Ninia Gloriani, the head of the DOST Vaccine Development Expert Panel.
00:12Dr. Gloriani, good afternoon.
00:15Good afternoon, Acik Dave and Ninia, are you there?
00:20Yes, Doc. Good morning. Good afternoon.
00:24Doc, let's start with MPOX. What is the vaccine for MPOX and how does it work against this disease?
00:35There was a first generation of MPOX vaccine, but now we have a second and third generation.
00:44The third generation is being used now because it has better protection and safety profile.
00:54Although there are changes that are being made, those are just parts of the virus, not the whole thing because the third generation is the whole thing but it is attenuated.
01:07It will not cause the disease but it will elicit immunity or immune response to protect against the impact.
01:15So this is my question.
01:19Dr. Nina, is there an available MPOX vaccine here in the Philippines?
01:28In the Philippines, as far as I know, they did not apply for CTR, Certificate of Product Registration.
01:42For the public, I think the DOH can answer that. It is not a priority because the number of cases is not that high.
01:54It will not be procured, although maybe later we can look at it. But for the public and private, there is no application.
02:05So it is not available to us, but of course in the U.S., it is available and there are not many supplies there.
02:12Dr. Nina, the declaration of the WHO on MPOX as a public health emergency of international concern, what does this mean when it comes to the intervention on the disease?
02:25Okay. What they want to do is to say that the international... it has been released. It has more cases now, especially in DRC in Congo,
02:38Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa. It is also increasing in other countries, Sweden, Zimbabwe, Pakistan. We have another one this year.
02:50So what does it mean to have a declaration? It means that it is spreading and increasing. So we need to be careful.
02:59If we have a declaration like that, the resources will also be released and people should be better aware of what's going on and they will be careful. That's all.
03:14Dr. Nina, is MPOX similar to smallpox? They are saying that if a person is vaccinated against smallpox, MPOX will no longer exist.
03:28Okay. It's like this. Smallpox and MPOX are related. There is cross-protection.
03:36The people, hopefully some of them are still alive, who were vaccinated against smallpox, they also have residual immunity and they could be partly protected from MPOX.
03:49But the children now have no immunity so they are not protected. But there is cross-reactivity because they are related, smallpox and MPOX.
04:03Doc, is there a vaccine being developed against MPOX and what is the update if there is one?
04:13That's what I said earlier. Actually, what's available even in the U.S. is the third generation of the whole virus, MPOX, but attenuated.
04:27It means it is weakened so it cannot cause disease, but it can elicit or stimulate immune response.
04:35There is also a new one, third generation, like Infanex, Invamune. This is the new one. But there is a fourth generation, the newer one, but it is not available commercially.
04:52The part of the virus, they identified the part of the MPOX virus that is important for protection. That is what they are using. Protein subunit and there is also a DNA vaccine, but it is not yet available in the market.
05:10Doc Nina, just to ease the worries of our countrymen because this is new, MPOX, and as we have seen, it is scary to have this.
05:21Can we ask our countrymen, how can a person be infected with this disease, MPOX? You said it is hard to get infected with this disease?
05:32Yes. You need to have close contact with the source of the virus. For example, if a person is kissing, that is close contact, intimate contact.
05:46Or for beddings, if you touch it, it is very close, you can put it on your nose and so on. That is easy to get infected. But it is not like COVID where you breathe, it is not airborne.
06:02Although it is said, but very few studies show, it is not like that. You need to be close, intimate, close contact with the source of the virus.
06:14So for example, if you are getting a massage or you are getting a derma, like what is being said about MPOX, you really need to trace who is treating you because it is close, intimate contact.
06:27Yes, it is close. That is what we are saying, it is close.
06:31Yes, you are getting a dentist.
06:33But if it is in your room, it is far away, that is not close. You are not close.
06:38All right. In terms of dengue, the DOH said that it is possible for a dengue outbreak to be declared in the whole country. What is the metric for declaring a national outbreak?
06:55Actually, they are looking at different ways of looking at the metrics. How do you say? Threshold, actually threshold. When will you say that this is an outbreak?
07:10So our epidemiology bureau is looking at our data over one year, five years. If it increases from one to two, what we call standard deviations,
07:25the higher cases, to the mean value of our historical experience of cases for let us say the last five years. If it increases, it can be declared.
07:39But at the level of the local government units, they can declare on their own. They will just look at this. If the number of cases increases, in a short period of time, in two weeks, doubling, tripling, they can declare.
07:55In the national, they are looking at different metrics.
08:00Doc Nina, what is the update on the new vaccine against dengue and what is the study of the vaccine panel here?
08:09Okay. Our vaccine panel is no longer functional. It is under the FDA. There are new vaccines against dengue that we should look at. Actually, as far as I know, there is an application.
08:27So this is the next second generation of vaccine against dengue that has higher protection against the four types of dengue and has a good safety profile.
08:45So it can be used for six to 16 years of age. Actually, the WHO has a recommendation to use this. However, it hasn't been approved yet.
09:00I hope it will be approved so we can use it. But remember, our solution against dengue is not just vaccination. It needs integrated control.
09:15There is vector control, clinical part, looking at the cases, of course our communication, environmental, our four S's in the WHO.
09:27So all of those can help to control and prevent dengue in our country because it's increasing. It will not decrease immediately.
09:37It has a cycle. It goes back and forth. So we really have to consider an additional intervention like vaccination.
09:45Okay. When do you think the dengue vaccine will be approved in the Philippines? Because in other countries, there is dengue vaccine.
09:56There are many. Actually, here in Asia Pacific, in ASEAN, there is Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. We are the last ones.
10:13I cannot say that I'm not a part of that. But we will call on the appropriate authorities. I hope it will be approved. What is the merits of this?
10:25Because this is a new generation of vaccine. If we have experience before, this vaccine is different now.
10:36And considering that dengue is endemic in the Philippines.
10:41We call it high transmission area, especially certain areas of the country. So we really have to consider that. I hope you will help us.
10:53Okay. A message and a reminder to our countrymen about MPOX and dengue.
11:01Okay. On MPOX, the big thing is personal hygiene. We know that it's close contact, but it's hard to say.
11:14But personal hygiene is very, very important. In dengue, we don't want more mosquitoes. We should be clean in our surroundings.
11:26If at any moment there is fever and signs and symptoms in dengue, we have a lot of information about that.
11:38The doctors, especially the children up to nine years old, are the ones who have dengue.
11:46So early detection, early confirmation that it's dengue, the patient or the child should be observed and complications should be avoided.
11:56I hope that the vector control will continue. It's at the LGU level.
12:01Of course, the clinical management is with our doctors and hospitals.
12:05But I hope that there will be an additional layer.
12:08Just call for our vaccine.
12:14Thank you very much for your time, Dr. Nina Gloriani, the head of the DOST Vaccine Development Expert Panel.