Two thousand schoolgirls suffer suspected ill-effects from
Thousands of schoolgirls have suffered suspected adverse reactions to a controversial cervical
cancer vaccine introduced by the Government.
By Laura Donnelly, Health Correspondent
Published: 9:00PM BST 12 Sep 2009
Doctors' reports show that girls of 12 and 13 have experienced convulsions, fever and paralysis after being given the
vaccine, which is now administered in schools as part of efforts to prevent women developing cancer.
Others suffered nausea, muscle weakness, dizziness and blurred vision, according to a special report drawn up by
A support group says it has received dozens of calls from parents who believe their daughters have been damaged by
The parents of one teenage girl given the jab last autumn believe it was to blame for repeated seizures which have
left her with brain damage and psychosis.
The immunisation programme for teenage girls is controversial because it protects them from the sexually transmitted
human papillomavirus which causes 70 per cent of cervical tumours.
When the Government introduced the Cervarix vaccination programme last year, some campaigners dubbed it a
Campaigners and families said the new figures showed the vaccination should not have been introduced via a mass
More than one million girls have already been given the jab, which is offered to all as they enter their teens.
Until 2011 it will also be administered to older girls, so that all female teens below the age of 18 will be covered by the
Ministers say that ultimately the scheme will save 700 lives a year, while drug safety experts insist the number of
suspected reactions are outweighed by the benefits from the jab.
Most of the more than 2,000 suspected reactions recorded by drug safety watchdog Medicines and Health care
products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) were mild, with dozens of girls recording rashes, pain in the arm, and allergies.
But the report prepared by the MHRA earlier this month also discloses cases in which teens have suffered
convulsions, eye rolling, muscle spasms, seizures and hyperventilation soon after being given the jab.
The analysis by the MHRA, drawn up this month, found 2,107 patients had reported some kind of suspected adverse
reaction to Cervarix. Several reported multiple reactions, with 4,602 suspected side-effects recorded in total.
Jackie Fletcher, founder of Jabs, a support group for families whose children have fallen ill after immunisation, said
she had taken dozens of calls from parents who believed their daughters had been damaged by the cervical cancer
She said: "We have spoken to parents whose daughters have had seizures, paralysis, blurred vision, severe
headaches and the loss of feeling in parts of their body.
"Doctors will try to convince parents that these problems are in their child's mind, or have nothing to do with the
vaccines, but we don't think there is sufficient evidence to show Cervarix is safe."
Medical safety experts insist the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks.
They say many of the patients who experienced an "adverse" reaction to the jab since April 2008, including some who
took part in drug trials or bought the drug privately, only suffered short-term side effects from the injection process, not
There was no evidence to suggest "isolated cases of other medical conditions" were actually caused by the vaccine,
and not just a coincidence, the regulator's report said.
Cancer charities urged parents to continue allowing their daughters to have the jabs, saying the numbers were well
within what would have been expected for a large-scale programme, and that most of the side effects were minor.
Robert Music, director of cervical cancer charity Jo's Trust said: "I can understand why parents would feel cautious,
but this programme could reduce 70 per cent of cervical cancers.
We need to keep reviewing the evidence, but we would really urge parents to make sure their daughters have the
Stacey Jones is one of those who believes she has suffered side effects from the vaccine. She was 17 when she had
Her parents Julie and Kerry, from Bilston, West Midlands, noticed her becoming increasingly emotional in the weeks
following the first two jabs, but feared their "happy-go-lucky" girl had finally succumbed to adolescent moodswings.
Within four days of the third injection in March of this year, Stacey suffered an epileptic seizure, followed by 17 more in
She has now been diagnosed with a brain injury, caused by inflammation of the brain, and is being treated in an NHS
rehabilitation unit in Birmingham, which helps her with basic tasks like making a sandwich.
Seizures are minimised by five types of medication, but her memory is badly damaged.
The family has been given no explanation for how the damage occurred. Mrs Jones, 44, said: "She was such a lovely,
happy go-lucky girl, now she is just a shell.
"When we go to see her, she can't remember what she has just eaten for tea. The impact on her and all of us has
been absolutely devastating. I feel she has been used as a guinea pig."
A spokesman for GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Cervarix, said the drug had to undergo rigorous testing, with over
70,000 doses used in trials before a licence was granted.
He said: "The UK medicines safety agency has reviewed all reported adverse events relevant to Cervarix and there is
no evidence to suggest that the vaccine carries any long-term side effects.
"The symptoms this girl has experienced are clearly upsetting and it is understandable that the girl and her parents
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Eight in 10 girls say that having the HPV jab makes them think twice about the risks of having sex, a poll finds.
The findings may go some way to dispel concerns that the cervical cancer vaccine could make girls more likely to start having sex younger, say experts.
But 14% of the 500 girls surveyed and who had been offered the vaccine said they might take more sexual risks because of it.
The findings are published in the British Journal of Cancer.
One in five of the 12 and 13-year-olds polled by the University of Manchester team thought the vaccine was embarrassing because it is for a sexually-transmitted infection - human papillomavirus, or HPV.
But, 79% of the girls said having the vaccination reminded them of the possible risks of sexual contact and 93% said it showed they were serious about their own health.
The survey was funded by GlaxoSmithKline, which makes the Cervarix vaccine currently used in a national immunisation programme.
The girls, from the Manchester area, were questioned before the vaccine was available nationally.
It is the first survey to focus on girls' views of the vaccine rather than asking their parents for their thoughts.
Almost four in five girls said they discussed the decision to have the vaccine with their parents and, of those girls whose parents refused the vaccine, 42% actually wanted it.
But one in 10 girls receiving the jab did not want it.
High uptake
Dr Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK, said: "Despite the scare-stories, this research suggests that the HPV vaccine could make the majority of girls more cautious about sex.
"The HPV vaccine is an important step towards preventing cervical cancer in the UK but it will only be truly successful if uptake is high.
"It's important that girls also get appropriate sex education so that they're all aware of the risks of sex."
Each year around 2,800 British women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and more than 1,000 die from the disease.
Some 70% of 12-to-13-year-olds in England have been fully vaccinated against cervical cancer in the first year of the programme.
A Department of Health spokeswoman said attitudes may have changed since the vaccination campaign was rolled out.
She said: "We would always recommend involving the girl's family in the decision on whether to have the vaccine."
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