February, 2007

Currently, parents are being urged to consider the HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine for their young daughters. Emphasis should be upon the fact that the vaccine has neither been adequately tested nor proven to be effective for young girls. In addition, it is a very costly vaccine that will cost the taxpayer if the parents cannot afford it.

The HPV vaccine, Gardasil, contains 225 micrograms of aluminum. For decades, vaccines have contained aluminum adjuvants, but clinical trials never tested such adjuvants for safety.

A June 27, 2006, press release revealed that studies on animals and humans have shown that aluminum can cause nerve cell death and that vaccine aluminum adjuvants can allow aluminum to enter the brain, can cause inflammation at the injection site, and can lead to fatigue and chronic joint and muscle pain.

Barbara Loe Fisher was a member of the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) in 2001. At that time, Fisher urged VRBPAC to see that trials would include adequate safety data on pre-adolescent children and warned against fast tracking Gardasil. Fisher stated in the above 2006 press release, "There is too little long term safety and efficacy data, especially in young girls, and too little labeling information on contraindications for the CDC to recommend Gardasil for universal use, which is a signal for states to mandate it. Nobody at Merck, the CDC or FDA know if the injection of Gardasil into all pre-teen girls - especially simultaneously with hepatitis B vaccine - will make some of them more likely to develop arthritis or other inflammatory autoimmune and brain disorders as teenagers and adults. With cervical cancer causing about one percent of all cancer deaths in American women due to routine pap screening, it was inappropriate for the FDA to fast track Gardasil. It is way too early to direct all young girls to get three doses of a vaccine that has not been proven safe or effective in their age group."

The package insert for this vaccine states, "GARDASIL has not been evaluated for the potential to cause carcinogenicity or genotoxicity." http://www.fda.gov/cber/label/hpvmer013007LB.pdf

A few months ago, Clayton Young, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., stated, "Currently no vaccine has ever been examined for possible carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic effects, and yet the pharmaceutical industry stands ready to add Gardasil to the list of vaccines mandated for school admission." http://www.vaccineinfo.net/immunization/vaccine/hpv/doc_against_HPV.shtml

In the above article, Dr. Young also stated, "The vaccine only 'protects' against 4 high risk HPV subtypes. We are currently screening for 15 'high risk' HPV subtypes. This may lead to an increase in infection with other and possibly more aggressive subtypes. ... The study of the vaccine in children and adolescents is limited to only measuring the development of antibodies to the HPV subtypes in the vaccine. There is absolutely no evidence that the vaccine prevents anything when administered at this young age. Merck expects you to extrapolate their adult data to the immune response in children. If they were really interested in vaccine efficacy in children, should it not be studied properly in children? Vaccinating children for this or any other sexually transmitted infection is not without risk."

Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), of Vienna, VA, stated in a February 1, 2007, press release, "GARDASIL safety appears to have been studied in fewer than 2,000 girls aged 9 to 15 years and it is unclear how long they were followed up. ... The cost is going to break the pocketbooks of parents and break the banks of both insurance companies and taxpayers, when the reality is that almost all cases of HPV-associated cervical cancer can be prevented with annual pap screening of girls who are sexually active." http://www.909shot.com/PressReleases/pr020107HPV.htm

In the same press release, NVIC Health Policy Analyst Vicky Debold, RN, Ph.D., stated, "The most frequent serious health events after GARDASIL shots are neurological symptoms, ... These young girls are experiencing severe headaches, dizziness, temporary loss of vision, slurred speech, fainting, involuntary contraction of limbs (seizures), muscle weakness, tingling and numbness in the hands and feet and joint pain. Some of the girls have lost consciousness during what appears to be seizures." Debold added, "The manufacturer product insert should include mention of syncopal [fainting] episodes, seizures and Guillain-Barre Syndrome so doctors and parents are aware these vaccine adverse responses have been associated with the vaccine."

Thoughtful parents will consider these HPV vaccine facts:
(1) inadequate testing for safety and efficacy, especially in young girls,
(2) high costs, and
(3) serious adverse reactions.

Further information can be found at http://www.nvic.org/. Click on HPV INFECTION AND GARDASIL.

Susan Pearce