More than 1,300 schoolgirls have experienced adverse reactions to the controversial cervical cancer jab.
Doctors have reported that girls aged just 12 and 13 have suffered paralysis, convulsions and sight problems after being given the vaccine.
Dozens were described as having pain ‘in extremity’ while others suffered from nausea, muscle weakness, fever, dizziness and numbness.
But Government health experts insisted the Cervarix vaccine was safe and that the total of 1,340 reports was to be expected, given that more than 700,000 girls were vaccinated last year.
They also said many of the reactions resulted from the act of injection rather than the vaccine, and said there was no evidence that the jab caused any of the serious conditions such as paralysis.
Reports of adverse reactions to drugs and vaccines are collated by the drug safety watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), from reports by doctors.
Their latest analysis found there had been 1,340 reports in total, with 2,891 different adverse effects noted. Most were minor complaints such as rashes, swelling on the injection site, pain or allergic reactions.
But there was a range of more worrying problems. Four girls had convulsions, one had a seizure and one had an epileptic fit.
There were several cases of paralysis. One had Bell’s palsy, which paralyses the face; one had hemiparesis, which paralyses or severely weakens half the body; two experienced hypoaesthesia, in which the sufferer loses much of her sense of touch, and one had Guillain-Barré syndrome, which paralyses the legs.
There were almost 20 cases of blurred vision and one girl was reported as developing anorexia.
Source: Mail Online, 9th March 2009.
VAN UK’S Comment: Over 1,300 serious reactions out of 700,000 girls is not rare, and not an acceptable risk. To say that paralysis is not caused by the vaccine is ridiculous. They must assume parents are stupid.
