Sydney Morning Herald, May 22, 2007 01:18pm
Australian FEDERAL Health Minister Tony Abbott and health authorities
have urged parents not to panic over reports that dozens of teenage
girls have been sickened by a new cervical cancer vaccine.
In one case being investigated, a girl was left temporarily paralysed
and unable to talk after receiving the Australian-developed Gardasil
vaccine.
Health authorities deny the cases are directly related to the immunisation.
Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott and doctors urged parents not to
panic, saying the benefits outweighed the small risk of side effects.
Mr Abbott said risks were taken seriously but there was no evidence of a
serious problem with the vaccine.
Schoolgirls across Australia are being immunised with the breakthrough
Gardasil, developed by Professor Ian Frazer.
Australian Medical Association president Mukesh Haikerwal said it was
important girls were still vaccinated.
"We have got for the first time a vaccine that prevents cancer," Dr
Haikerwal said.
Sacred Heart Girls' College student Natasha D'Souza was treated after
she was temporarily paralysed and unable to talk for hours after her
injection at the Oakleigh school on May 7.
The Royal Children's Hospital said the vaccine was not to blame and
tests on the girl were continuing today.
Natasha D'Souza was one of seven Victorian students taken to hospital
after vaccinations this month. Most fainted or complained of feeling dizzy.
Sacred Heart Girls' College principal Christopher Dalton said today that
26 girls were taken to the school sick bay after injections.
Five were taken to the Monash Medical Centre, but hospital staff ruled
out vaccine complications.
"It is not uncommon for girls of this age group to react to vaccinations
in ways that are not necessarily physical in origin," Mr Dalton said.
The school will press ahead with more vaccinations next month.
Parents' permission is sought before students line up for shots, which
is given in three doses over six months.
Hundreds of girls in the US have reported reactions such as temporary
paralysis, fainting and broken bones from falling over after receiving
the shot.
It is claimed Gardasil protects against strains of the human papilloma
virus, or HPV, that leads to most cervical cancers.
The Australian
Cancer jab puts girls in hospital
Richard Kerbaj and Cath Hart
23may07
FOUR secondary-school girls were rushed to hospital this month after
having a reaction to the vaccination that immunises against cervical cancer.
The four students from Melbourne's Sacred Heart Girls College were among
20 who reported sick following the Gardasil injection.
But health authorities and the vaccine's co-creator, Australian of the
Year Ian Frazer, yesterday defended the immunisation program, saying
symptoms such as dizziness and fainting often followed injections,
particularly with groups.
The Gardasil national immunisation program is a multi-million-dollar
federal initiative to vaccinate every schoolgirl aged between 12 and 18.
On May 7, 720 students at the Sacred Heart college were vaccinated with
Gardasil.
Two of the four girls who went to hospital were checked and discharged
immediately, while the other two remained overnight for observation.
One of the students who was hospitalised, Natasha D'Souza, said she
collapsed and was left paralysed for six hours after being injected.
"I couldn't move at all," she said. "There were girls dropping like
flies, basically."
Natasha said her reaction was different from other vaccinations she had
been given.
Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott asked department officials to
investigate the reports from the school, but said he was confident
Gardasil was safe.
"A lot of people who get vaccinated report some immediate after-effects,
but the after-effects are very rarely serious and the benefits of the
vaccination are very important," Mr Abbott said.
Professor Frazer said it was common for vaccinations to cause temporary
adverse reactions such as headaches.
"I would reassure people that, yes, fainting can occur, but it's
avoidable and most commonly occurs in group vaccinations," the
University of Queensland immunologist said.
"It's not a phenomenon that goes with Gardasil - it's a phenomenon that
goes with injections in general."
College headmaster Christopher Dalton said: "It's not uncommon for girls
of this age group to react to vaccinations in ways that are not
necessarily physical in origin."
Some interesting facts about Gardasil
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/janak/070227Gardasil killed 3 girls and caused problems with 18 pregnant women.
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007 ... e_gar.htmlJudicial Watch uncovers deaths
http://www.judicialwatch.org/6299.shtmlHPV Vaccine Gardasil Kills 3 Girls: Report Is "Catalog Of Horrors"
By Jill Farrell
May 28, 2007
Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released documents obtained from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act regarding the female vaccine Gardasil.
Event reports obtained from the FDA detailed three deaths related to the vaccination for human papillomavirus (HPV) Gardasil, and 1,637 reports of adverse reactions.
One physician's assistant reported that a female patient "died of a blood clot three hours after getting the Gardasil vaccine." Two other reports, on girls 12 and 19, reported deaths relating to heart problems and/or blood clotting.
As of May 11, 2007, the 1,637 adverse vaccination reactions reported to the FDA via the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) included 371 serious reactions. Of the 42 women who received the vaccine while pregnant, 18 experienced side effects ranging from spontaneous abortion to fetal abnormities.
Side effects published by Merck & Co. warn the public about potential pain, fever, nausea, dizziness and itching after receiving the vaccine. Indeed, 77% of the adverse reactions reported are typical side effects to vaccinations. But other more serious side effects reported include paralysis, Bells Palsy, Guillain-Barre Syndrome (a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system), and seizures.
"The FDA adverse event reports on the HPV vaccine read like a catalog of horrors," stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "Any state or local government now beset by Merck's lobbying campaigns to mandate this HPV vaccine for young girls ought to take a look at these adverse health reports. It looks as if an unproven vaccine with dangerous side effects is being pushed as a miracle drug."
Judicial Watch filed its request on May 9, 2007, and received the adverse event reports from the FDA on May 15, 2007. Judicial Watch has posted the adverse event reports on their Internet site at: here
A recent study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, also questioned the general effectiveness of Gardasil.