Israel: Citizens Request Ban of HPV Vaccines

Citizens Request Ban

[SaneVax: The citizens of Israel are no more happy with HPV vaccines than the citizens of Japan. Israeli citizens want HPV vaccines halted and Gardasil/Cervarix licenses revoked. Citing lack of potential benefit and substantial risks to their young female population, Mor Sagmon, Chairman of the Israeli Vaccines Information Center, sent the following letter to the Head of Public Health in Israel. Many in Israel believe the risk/benefit ratio of HPV vaccines speak loud and clear – clearly not in favor of Gardasil and Cervarix. Where do your government health officials stand?]

August 15^th, 2013

To:                        Prof. Itamar Grotto, Head of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Israel

From:                   Mor Sagmon, Chair, the Israeli Vaccines Information Center

Subject:               HPV vaccines recommendation in Israel

Dear Prof. Grotto.

Considering the mounting reports of serious adverse effects following HPV vaccines since licensed in 2006 on one hand, and their moderate possible benefit in Israel on the other hand, as detailed below, we ask you to:

1. Cancel the decision to vaccinate all 14 year old school girls, as part of the routine recommended vaccines schedule, beginning this upcoming school year.
2. Reconsider HPV vaccines (Gardasil and Cervarix) license in Israel.
3. Publish a warning note to the public of these vaccines’ potential serious side effects and coordinate with the Ministry of Education preparation to cater for victims in schools.

The above steps are warranted given the information accumulated on these vaccines and the following data:

Possible Benefit

1. The vaccine has a maximum potential to prevent infection in only about 130 women per year (diagnosed with cervical cancer with evidence of vaccines-strain viruses).
2. The vaccines may prevent transfer of 4 Papilloma virus strains but not necessarily prevent cervical cancer.
3. Titer (antibodies) level resulting from the vaccine decreases significantly 18 months after vaccination. After 5 years no detectable antibodies are present[1-2]. In how many of these 130 women will there be enough antibodies left when starting sexual relationships, the most prevalent transfer form, after growing up?
4. The most effective measure to prevent cervical cancer in developed countries such as Israel is routine PAP screening, significantly reducing the potential vaccine benefit, as claimed by Dr. Diane Harper, world expert on the subject who participated in phases II+III of the clinical trials of the Gardasil vaccine, co-author of most of the published research on these vaccines and served as a paid consultant to the vaccine manufacturer, Merck.
5. Cervical cancer is typically developed over many years. Being new on the market, many years will have passed before we may be able to assess these vaccines’ clinical contribution in lowering cervical cancer incidence.

Vaccines Risks

1. VAERS recorded 76 death reports to date, since 2008, in addition to more than 25,000 adverse events in various degrees.
2. A 2006-2009 study found that the vaccine increases the risk for GBS ten-fold. In addition, reports in the USA recorded 8.5 times more emergency admissions in clinics and 12.5 times more women requiring hospitalizations following Gardasil, comparing with women vaccinated against influenza and HIB[3].
3. Another study, following women for 180 days post vaccine administration, 29% more women were diagnosed with Hashimoto (autoimmune disease compromising the thyroid gland) compared with un-vaccinated women[4]. Studies link the Gardasil vaccine to serious adverse effects including autoimmune diseases and death[5,6].
4. Additional adverse reactions reported post Gardasil administration include: convulsions in women aged 9-26, this effect was higher than in the general public[7,8]; transverse myelitis, an inflammatory disease attacking the spinal cord[8]; and a neurological-motor disease[8]. 25% of women receiving the vaccine while pregnant experienced spontaneous abortions following the vaccine[9].
5. Dr. Diane Harper claims that the adverse reactions reported after Gardasil administration, including death, outnumber the serious side effect of the disease itself, rendering the vaccine more dangerous than cervical cancer it aims to prevent[10].
6. June 2013: Japan halts the recommendation on HPV vaccines, two months after added to the recommended schedule, due to high prevalence of adverse reactions reported[11].
7. The Internet is flooded with hundreds of private accounts of HPV vaccines victims, as in this web-site, for example: www.sanevax.org.
8. Considering existing evidence of vaccines effects on viruses/germs strains, mutating after years of vaccines intervention (pertussis, pneumococci, hemophilus influenza), such a possibility of encouraging more virulent strains of HPV may be discovered in the future.

Dr. Diane Harper publicly criticized the use of this vaccine in developed countries. Dr. Harper points to the fact that the vaccine efficacy is not evident after 5 years therefore vaccinating young girls years before commencing sexual relationships is not a policy that promotes public health. Cervical cancer can be cured in almost all accounts when identified early by PAP screening[10].

Prof. Grotto, the risk/benefit equation in the HPV vaccines case is loud and clear: the vaccines are expected to expose many more girls to serious adverse reactions, including permanent disability and death, compared with the few girls who may enjoy protection in the future from these vaccines. We call for your re-consideration of the HPV vaccines license in Israel, and especially their introduction into the recommended schedule as of next school year.

Sincerely,

Mor Sagmon, Chair, The Israeli Vaccines Information Center

Copy:     Mrs. Yael German, Minister of Health;
Prof. Rony Gamzo, General Manager, Ministry of Health;
Mrs. Dalit Shtauber, General Manager, Ministry of Education;
Parliament Member Haim Katz, Chair, Health, Welfare and Labor Committee

Read French translation of this letter here.

1 Olsson SE, Villa LL, Costa RL, Petta CA, Andrade RP, Malm C, Iversen OE, Høye J, Steinwall M, Riis-Johannessen G, Andersson-Ellstrom A, Elfgren K, von Krogh G, Lehtinen M, Paavonen J, Tamms GM, Giacoletti K, Lupinacci L, Esser MT, Vuocolo SC, Saah AJ, Barr E. Induction of immune memory following administration of a prophylactic quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6/11/16/18 L1 virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine. Vaccine. 2007; 25:4931-9

2 Harper DM, Williams KB. Prophylactic HPV vaccines: current knowledge of impact on gynecologic premalignancies. Discov Med. 2010; 10:7-17

3 Souayah N, Michas-Martin PA, Nasar A, Krivitskaya N, Yacoub HA, Khan H, Qureshi AI. Guillain-Barré syndrome after Gardasil vaccination: data from Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System 2006-2009. Vaccine. 2011; 29:886-9

4 Chao C, Klein NP, Velicer CM, Sy LS, Slezak JM, Takhar H, Ackerson B, Cheetham TC, Hansen J, Deosaransingh K, Emery M, Liaw KL, Jacobsen SJ. Surveillance of autoimmune conditions following routine use of quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine. J Intern Med. 2012; 271:193-203.

5 Harper DM, Williams KB. Prophylactic HPV vaccines: current knowledge of impact on gynecologic premalignancies. Discov Med. 2010; 10:7-17

6 Tomljenovic L, Shaw CA. Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine policy and evidence-based medicine: Are they at odds? Ann Med. 2011 Dec 22

7 Crawford NW, Clothier HJ, Elia S, Lazzaro T, Royle J, Buttery JP. Syncope and seizures following human papillomavirus vaccination: a retrospective case series. Med J Aust. 2011;194:16-8

8 Álvarez-Soria MJ, Hernández-González A, Carrasco-García de León S, del Real-Francia MÁ, Gallardo-Alcañiz MJ, López-Gómez JL. [Demyelinating disease and vaccination of the human papillomavirus]. Rev Neurol. 2011;52:472-6

9 Presentation by Nancy Miller, MD, CBER, FDA May 18, 2006, Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee Meeting

10 Sharyl Attkisson, Gardasil Researcher Speaks Out, CBS News, August 29, 2009

11 The Japan Times News, Cervix vaccine issues trigger health notice, June 15, 2013

For more information on the response to this letter, read:  Health risks push ministry to reconsider HPV vaccine for teen girls.