The new HPV vaccine Cervarix for women teens – widely used in the UK and close to FDA approval in the US – has as many problems as Gardisil, warns a British drug safety watchdog group.
Dubbed the “promiscuity jab” in Britain, according to a Philadelphia news story, adverse reaction include “nausea, dizziness, blurred vision, convulsions, seizures and hyperventilation.”
One girl, Stacy Jones, 17, began to suffer epileptic seizures within four days of her third injection of Cevarix this past March. She has since been diagnosed with a brain injury caused by inflammation of the brain, one of the reported reactions to Cervarix, and is currently receiving rehabilitation just to perform basic tasks such as making a sandwich.
Reports of more than 15,000 reactions, 3,000 injuries and 48 deaths haven’t slowed the UK government’s “goal of having all females below the age of 18 vaccinated by 2011.”
It raises an interesting question: if the US adopts some form of government-directed health care, will American young women become UK-like guinea pigs forced to take vaccinations that could kill them even if they aren’t ”promiscuous”?
–Don’t all vaccines have potential side effects moderate and severe? You might catch the flu from the flu vaccine, but that’s a risk you take. The question is whether you’d prefer to risk “nausea, dizziness, blurred vision, convulsions, seizures and hyperventilation” or cervical cancer.
–The numbers aren’t out for this vaccine, but the report from Gardisil was that there have been 3000 total injuries and 48 deaths from the vaccine.
(Can’t remember how long Gardisil has been out.)
But the stats for HPV and cervical cancer?
(http://www.cdc.gov/std/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm)
–Approximately 20 million Americans are currently infected with HPV
– At least 50% of sexually active men and women acquire genital HPV infection at some point in their lives.
–in 2008, 11,070 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer in the U.S.
–Cervical cancer has about a 5-25% fatality rate, based on what kind it is and how late in development it’s caught.
–Lastly, I’m confused about the question “will American young women become UK-like guinea pigs forced to take vaccinations that could kill them even if they aren’t ”promiscuous””
1) How will mandatory HPV vaccines make Americans “UK-like guinea pigs”? Unless you have statistics comparing the safety of HPV vaccines to all the other vaccines Americans are forced to get (and other ones being considered, like S1H1 vaccines) then this wouldn’t make us guinea pigs any more than we already are. And again, last time I checked, all vaccines have potential side effects, including, the thing they’re trying to prevent.
2) Vaccine ethics has been a widely-discussed topic in the history of medicine. Taking a vaccine that could kill you to prevent a disease that could kill you is a serious ethical decision, and yet, your commentary makes no mention that this is a topic of concern with all vaccinations, from the flu to polio.
Where’s the post where you talk about the side effects of cervical cancer?
Okay, so your numbers aren’t from that article, as far as I can tell. You’ll want to cite those.
Also, why are you talking about the UK version that’s not approved for the US? This is an American-based website, right? Shouldn’t you be talking about the US version of the vaccine?
Nowhere does it say that the UK women were forced to take the vaccine, so why would US women be forced to have it?
One does not need to be promiscuous to want to look into a vaccine that could prevent a type of cancer. All vaccines have potentially harmful side effects. Girls, please look up all your facts before making a decision regarding protective measures. Then make the decision that is right for you!
What does promiscuity have to do with this? A women could catch a cancer causing strain of HPV on her wedding night.