DAVAO CITY—Medical doctors have warned the public on buying and using counterfeit anti-rabies vaccines.
Dr. Nikko Jay Lagudas, an internist in the Southern Philippine Medical Center, says that the price difference between the real vaccine and the counterfeit ones makes counterfeit vaccines enticing to buyers.
“Usually, a rabies vaccine vial costs around P2,000 to P3,000, the counterfeit around P1,500 or fifty percent lower than the real vaccines,” Lagudas said.
However, he warns that by using counterfeit anti rabies vaccines patients cannot be assured of its efficacy. Lagudas said that original vaccines are checked by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“Ang counterfeit man gud dili ta sigurado kung tinood ba na vaccine or gibutangan lang to ug tubig. Ang mga tinood na vaccine niagi na siya ug FDA na check sa FDA kung tinood siya or dili. Wala ana na proseso ang counterfeit,” Lagudas said.
(We are not sure that the counterfeit vaccines are real or it is just water. The true vaccine underwent FDA, checked by the FDA if it’s true or not. The counterfeit did not undergo such process.)
He revealed that the SPMC Animal Bite Center recently caught a pharmacy which sold counterfeit vaccines. The Pharmacovigilance Team of the SPMC is currently conducting an investigation to determine the source of these counterfeit.
Ang ma-advise nako is muadto ta sa mga accredited na animal bite centers. Katong naay DOH (Department of Health) na license and naay license na nagahatag ug vaccines since kaning mg personnel anad na mag check kung ang mga vaccines counterfeit,” Lagudas said.
(My advice is to go to accredited animal bite centers, those with DOH license and those administering vaccines also have license since these personnel they know how to check if these vaccines are counterfeit.)
The SPMC recorded 36 rabies cases in 2024 which is up from the 24 cases recorded in 2023.
As rabies are 100 percent fatal, all the rabies cases have led to deaths. Lagudas says the best way to prevent fatalities is for bite victims not to delay lifesaving treatment such as rabies vaccinations. He also advised bite victims to wash their wounds with soap and running water for 10 minutes.
“It is the saliva that carries the rabies virus, by washing they should be washed out in 10 minutes of flowing water,” he said.
Lagudas added that bite victims are also given tetanus toxoid vaccines aside from the anti-rabies shots as they is a possibility that tetanus bacteria is also present in the bite which is an open wound. (PIA/RGA)
