HPV Vaccine - Gardasil

[milimelo 4,481]

Found this article in BMJ and thought that everyone who has a wife, daughter, sister should read this.

I am thankfully "too old" to be ever required to take it but would like to caution everyone should they decide to take it. I am not sure how to get away from taking it as it is now required for immigration but would think that doctors who administer medical tests should be given this to read and give a waiver for it.

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/334/7605/1182

News

Questions over human papillomavirus vaccine in the US and Australia

Janice Hopkins Tanne

New York

Questions have emerged in the United States and Australia about the effectiveness and possibly dangerous side effects of Gardasil, Merck's newly licensed vaccine for human papillomavirus.

In the US, three deaths closely time related to immunisation with the vaccine were among 1637 adverse reactions reported by Judicial Watch, a public interest watchdog. Judicial Watch obtained the reports from the Food and Drug Administration using the Freedom of Information Act. The reports were filed through the FDA's vaccine adverse event reporting system.

In Australia, 25 girls at a Catholic high school in Melbourne who had just received their first injection of the vaccine on 22 May experienced headache, nausea, and dizziness, the Age reported. Four were sent to hospital and two were admitted overnight. All were discharged. One expert called it mass hysteria. Shares of the vaccine's Australian developer, CSL, fell after news reports of the incident (www.theage.com.au, 25 May, "Why are we experimenting with drugs on girls?").

The FDA approved the vaccine in June 2006, and an advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unanimously voted to recommend it for girls aged 11 and 12 years. It is effective against human papillomavirus types 6, 11, 16, and 18, which cause most cervical cancers and genital warts.

The vaccine has been controversial because some parents objected to state mandates to give it to young girls, preferring to encourage their daughters to abstain from sexual activity until marriage (BMJ 2007;334:721-3 doi: 10.1136/bmj.39164.510127.AD).

Judicial Watch reported on 23 May that the three deaths included one poorly documented death from a blood clot three hours after receiving the vaccine and two deaths in young women with existing heart or clotting problems.

Some 371 of the other adverse reactions reported were serious, including paralysis, Bell's palsy, and Guillain-Barré syndrome. Among 42 pregnant women who were vaccinated, 18 had side effects, ranging from spontaneous abortion to fetal abnormalities. Most of the adverse effects were typical, such as pain, fever, nausea, dizziness, and itching. Merck warns about such side effects in its prescribing information.

Last month the New England Journal of Medicine published two studies showing that the vaccine was effective (2007;356:1915-27, 1991-93). It reduced the risk of lesions caused by the most dangerous strains, 16 and 18, by 44% but reduced the number of lesions caused by all strains by only 17%. An editorial commented that the modest reduction might be because some women had previously been exposed to the virus or because other strains of virus might have caused lesions when infection with the more dangerous strains was prevented.

The BMJ twice asked Merck to comment on the Judicial Watch report but had not received a response before going to press.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The FDA's reports on Gardasil are available at www.judicialwatch.org.

See Observations doi: 10.1136/bmj.39238.479479.94.

[Dan J 277]

Found this article in BMJ and thought that everyone who has a wife, daughter, sister should read this.

I am thankfully "too old" to be ever required to take it but would like to caution everyone should they decide to take it. I am not sure how to get away from taking it as it is now required for immigration but would think that doctors who administer medical tests should be given this to read and give a waiver for it.

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/334/7605/1182

News

Questions over human papillomavirus vaccine in the US and Australia

Janice Hopkins Tanne

New York

Questions have emerged in the United States and Australia about the effectiveness and possibly dangerous side effects of Gardasil, Merck's newly licensed vaccine for human papillomavirus.

In the US, three deaths closely time related to immunisation with the vaccine were among 1637 adverse reactions reported by Judicial Watch, a public interest watchdog. Judicial Watch obtained the reports from the Food and Drug Administration using the Freedom of Information Act. The reports were filed through the FDA's vaccine adverse event reporting system.

In Australia, 25 girls at a Catholic high school in Melbourne who had just received their first injection of the vaccine on 22 May experienced headache, nausea, and dizziness, the Age reported. Four were sent to hospital and two were admitted overnight. All were discharged. One expert called it mass hysteria. Shares of the vaccine's Australian developer, CSL, fell after news reports of the incident (www.theage.com.au, 25 May, "Why are we experimenting with drugs on girls?").

The FDA approved the vaccine in June 2006, and an advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unanimously voted to recommend it for girls aged 11 and 12 years. It is effective against human papillomavirus types 6, 11, 16, and 18, which cause most cervical cancers and genital warts.

The vaccine has been controversial because some parents objected to state mandates to give it to young girls, preferring to encourage their daughters to abstain from sexual activity until marriage (BMJ 2007;334:721-3 doi: 10.1136/bmj.39164.510127.AD).

Judicial Watch reported on 23 May that the three deaths included one poorly documented death from a blood clot three hours after receiving the vaccine and two deaths in young women with existing heart or clotting problems.

Some 371 of the other adverse reactions reported were serious, including paralysis, Bell's palsy, and Guillain-Barré syndrome. Among 42 pregnant women who were vaccinated, 18 had side effects, ranging from spontaneous abortion to fetal abnormalities. Most of the adverse effects were typical, such as pain, fever, nausea, dizziness, and itching. Merck warns about such side effects in its prescribing information.

Last month the New England Journal of Medicine published two studies showing that the vaccine was effective (2007;356:1915-27, 1991-93). It reduced the risk of lesions caused by the most dangerous strains, 16 and 18, by 44% but reduced the number of lesions caused by all strains by only 17%. An editorial commented that the modest reduction might be because some women had previously been exposed to the virus or because other strains of virus might have caused lesions when infection with the more dangerous strains was prevented.

The BMJ twice asked Merck to comment on the Judicial Watch report but had not received a response before going to press.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The FDA's reports on Gardasil are available at www.judicialwatch.org.

See Observations doi: 10.1136/bmj.39238.479479.94.

All vaccines have a chance of adverse events, including death. Cervical cancer, which this vaccine is designed to prevent, has an average survival rate of 75%.

The question to be answered is are you putting yourself in more danger by getting the vaccine than you would if you got cervical cancer.

[bhajishah 4]

HPV google it and see the side effects of the virus.F UGLY

[Jasman0717 9]

HPV google it and see the side effects of the virus.F UGLY

Nasty stuff

[DeadPoolX 9]

HPV google it and see the side effects of the virus.F UGLY

Nasty stuff

That's true. However, most strains of HPV pass through our system without any complications. I've read statistics that claim over 80% of women have experienced some strain of HPV by the time they're 50 years-old. Most women do not get warts or cancer from this.

Gardarsil protects against the four worst strains. While complete protection from HPV is impossible, a greater chance to prevent it is obviously desirable. Age apparently limits the usefulness of the vaccine, as well. Whether or not the age limitations placed on Gardasil are due to the vaccine itself or medical practice/government laws, the point remains that women above the age of 26 aren't considered viable recipients.

The choice to get Gardasil is dependent on the woman and in some cases, the state government. Texas, for instance, has made this vaccine mandatory. I don't know of any other state to do this, but I can't imagine there aren't at least some (or at the very least, other states which will soon follow).

[milimelo 4,481]

You don't have a problem with a vaccine that has in its 2 years of use caused a minimum of 18 deaths and up to 20 (known so far), left some girls with permanent damage?

http://www.judicialwatch.org/documents/2008/VAERS_Deaths.pdf

http://www.judicialwatch.org/documents/200...eriousVAERS.pdf

http://www.judicialwatch.org/documents/200...2008Excerpt.pdf

http://www.judicialwatch.org/documents/200...l_VAERS_All.pdf (Very large file 58 Mb)

http://www.judicialwatch.org/story/2008/ma...cts-hpv-vaccine

I'd stay away until there is some serious research done on the side-effects and to actually see the efficiency in prevention of HPV.

More women die from breast cancer than cervical cancer.

[Dan J 277]

You don't have a problem with a vaccine that has in its 2 years of use caused a minimum of 18 deaths and up to 20 (known so far), left some girls with permanent damage?

http://www.judicialwatch.org/documents/2008/VAERS_Deaths.pdf

http://www.judicialwatch.org/documents/200...eriousVAERS.pdf

http://www.judicialwatch.org/documents/200...2008Excerpt.pdf

http://www.judicialwatch.org/documents/200...l_VAERS_All.pdf (Very large file 58 Mb)

http://www.judicialwatch.org/story/2008/ma...cts-hpv-vaccine

I'd stay away until there is some serious research done on the side-effects and to actually see the efficiency in prevention of HPV.

More women die from breast cancer than cervical cancer.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/side-effects.htm

All vaccines have the potential to generate side effects. There is nothing about the HPV vaccine that indicates that its more or less dangerous than any other vaccine.

The HPV vaccine is new, and being given to much larger populations than established vaccines. Which may cause the rate of adverse events of appear higher, but relative numbers, per dose are what matters.