I can neither confirm nor deny...

Early this week, I heard of a message shared in an expat Facebook group, that an "embassy" had messaged their citizens residing in the Philippines, informing them of the availability of a dengue vaccine by next month. As a first step, I asked my source to take a screen grab of the message and to confirm if the source is authentic and reliable.

- CITO BELTRAN

Everything I requested came back positive. The post read: "Embassy (have) just announced they are offering us QDenga vax next month if we want it." I found out that the "embassy" referred to was allegedly the Australian embassy.

As I continued to ask around, I learned from different individuals with friends in the diplomatic circles, or friends working in embassies and multinational companies, that there has been a growing concern about the number of dengue cases among expats, their dependents as well as support personnel or domestic employees.

After a few more inquiries, the needle was pointing to the Australian embassy, so I politely asked a fellow columnist to check with a high-ranking official to confirm or deny the matter, which my friend claims he did so by text message. After more than 24 hours, there has been no reply or response from embassy officials.

But as I continued to "shake the bushes," as they say, a source of a source came back with information that fills in the blanks. What I was told is that the Australian embassy, like other embassies, has allegedly received numerous reports about dengue infections among nationals in the Philippines, as well as requests for assistance or referral to get a dengue vaccine.

Presumably, local embassy hires checked and were informed that the vaccine remains under review by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration and is not commercially approved or available.