Irish Examiner
By Niall Murray, Education Correspondent
Friday, September 23, 2011
HEALTH officials have moved to assure the public about the safety of a vaccine to protect girls from cervical cancer after schools got letters claiming it was contaminated.
Second-level schools with female students have been facilitating the HPV (human pappillomavirus) immunisation programme for the Health Service Executive (HSE) since before last year’s summer holidays. It is administered in three doses and more than 145,000 doses have been given to date, mostly to girls in first and second year, but a catch-up programme is extending it to sixth-year students.
The HSE wrote to all second-level schools this week after learning of correspondence being sent to principals with concerns that Gardasil, the vaccine used in the programme, is “contaminated with viral DNA”. It is unknown how many schools received the letters, if they are in a particular region, or if the sender was identified.
US group SANE Vax Inc said on September 6 that it found recombinant HPV DNA in 13 Gardasil vials it had tested. It has asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate.
The European Medicines Agency is reviewing the information but the Irish Medicines Board (IMB), which regulates vaccines here, said initial evaluations suggest the balance of benefits and risks for Gardasil is unaffected and remain positive. “This information has no impact on the safety or effectiveness of the vaccine,” an IMB spokesperson told the Irish Examiner last.
HSE assistant national director of population health Dr Kevin Kelleher told schools the IMB and EU agencies will continue to monitor Gardasil.
“Any recommendations arising from this will be notified to you. There is no change to the vaccine programme and the benefits of the vaccine remain positive,” he wrote.
The HPV virus is transmitted sexually so the vaccine is most effective if given to girls who have not been sexually active, but there have been claims that its use encourages sexual activity by teenagers. The Irish Examiner has learned of some Catholic secondary schools receiving calls to say it is immoral to allow girls be immunised.
More than 70% of cases of cervical cancer, diagnosed in 250 women and killing around 80 in Ireland every year, are linked to HPV types covered by Gardasil.
Sandy L says
September 23, 2011 at 12:03 pmGardasil promoters use every possible strategy to improve sales. It is being pushed onto thousands of little girls before they become sexually active because then they will become infected with the HPV virus. But what is the truth?
The vaccine manufacturer Merck and “accessories” have probably known since 2008 that Human papillomavirus has been found in the placenta and umibilical cord:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18972230
Conclusion:
“HPV DNA is detected in placental trophoblasts and umbilical cord blood. The presence of HPV DNA at these sites increases the risk of a neonate testing HPV-positive at birth”.
They also have no doubt known since 1998 about “Transmission of Cervical Cancer-Associated Human Papilloma Viruses from Mother to Child”.
http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Doi=24939
Conclusion:
“The traditional view that cervical-cancer associated HPV infections are primarily sexually transmitted needs to be re-assessed.
Accordingly, the role of mother to child transmission of cancer-associated HPVs may need to be investigated further. These facts are pertinent to those developing prophylactic vaccines to prevent high-risk HPV infections and cervical carcinoma”.
– So if babies may already be infected with HPV, then what is the real reason for telling young girls: “Hurry and get the vaccine – before you become infected with HPV”?
Documentation which points to the fact that those who are already infected with HPV have a 44.6% increase of cancer risk if they take Gardasil makes one wonder if the pharmaceutical industry’s chief aims are for gigantic profits and to make people ill, rather than to contribute towards better health.