Irish Examiner
By Jennifer Hough
Monday, August 30, 2010
MEET the Gardasil girls.
They are from Florida and Wisconsin, Texas and Tennessee, New Mexico, New Zealand and Australia.
There’s Savanna from Ohio, Kahlia from New Zealand, and Kristyn from Washington State. They are just a handful of the girls whose pretty smiling faces peer back from the website Sanevax.org.
Savanna was 12 when she got the vaccine. Since then her list of symptoms has included vision problems, twitching, numbness, memory loss, trouble concentrating, confusion, brain fog (can’t find the right words), trouble breathing, sleep paralysis (can’t move upon first waking) and hair loss.
Her mother spends almost every waking moment trying to warn people. Her mission is to make sure no one else has to watch their child go through the traumatic, life-changing events her daughter has experienced.
Her list of symptoms now includes back pain from her neck to her feet, terrible pressure in her head, involuntary muscle spasms, nausea, diarrhoea, weight loss, severe fatigue, chest pains, rib pain, rapid heart beat, dizziness, vision problems, difficulty breathing, brain fog and hair loss.
Jessica Ericzon was one of the first recorded Gardasil-associated fatalities. Until receiving her third injection of HPV vaccine, Jessica was healthy, happy, active, never smoked or took drugs. On February 20, 2008, less than 48 hours after her last Gardasil shot, her parents found her dead on the bathroom floor. She was only 17. According to her coroner, the death was unexplainable.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Scottish political activist and Sanevax.org co-founder Freda Birrell said it was imperative people were aware of the risks, even if there were not being taken seriously by politicians and the drug company.
Birrell told the Irish Examiner that politicians here were “closing their ears” to the other side of the story in relation to the vaccine. Ms Birrell, who has written to Minister for Health Mary Harney, said if there are no serious adverse reactions associated with the vaccine’s use in Ireland, it will be the only country in which it has not happened.
However, the FDA remains satisfied these events are rare, coincidental and probably not related to HPV vaccines. It insists underlying conditions must have caused the reactions.
More worryingly, no one in this country seems to be aware of the possible side affects of Gardasil, and no one is warning parents of the possible dangers so they can make an informed decision on the issue.
Maire Hayes says
September 28, 2011 at 10:30 amHow can someone get in contact with Freda Birrell. I know several parents worried about their teens who had reactions to the vaccine?
Freda Birrell says
September 28, 2011 at 3:44 pmMaire – I have tried to make contact with you via the email address you provided but it keeps bouncing back to me. Can you get in touch with me again on info@sanevax.org Can you confirm your email address as it is not working for either myself or my colleague.
Would like to hear from you as soon as possible. With thanks. Once you make contact with me we can proceed from there and I will be able to provide you with my personal email address.