Competing information campaigns launched as HPV vaccine program recommences.

By Martin Healy, 
Regret.ie, 31/8/2015

The HSE recently published the content of the information leaflets that will be distributed to parents as part of the informed consent process for the 2015 schools HPV vaccination program. Regret.ie, the national support group for Irish girls injured by this vaccine (Gardasil), has noted that the content in the 2015 info leaflets has not changed from previous years. This is despite a meeting which the group had in July with the Chairperson of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee in which they demanded that more complete information be given to parents, especially on the risk of serious adverse reactions.

Although these serious reactions are listed in the vaccine maker‘s Patient Information Leaflet (PPI), the HSE does not inform parents of the risk.

Reactions include persistent severe headaches, seizures, auto-immune conditions, chronic fatigue, memory impairment, menstrual problems, joint and/or muscle pains and other debilitating illnesses that are typical of the conditions now being suffered by some Irish schoolgirls who took the vaccine.

The Support Group has launched their own information campaign which will refer parents to the vaccine maker's original product information, including results from the vaccine maker's own clinical trials.

In these trials 2.5% (1 in 40) of participants reported a serious adverse event* after taking the vaccine. In addition,  3.3% (1 in 30) also reported a new auto-immune condition. Given the current rate of incidence of cervical cancer in Ireland is only 13/100,000 (or 0.013%), the benefits of this vaccine hardly appear to outweigh the risks.

Speaking on Shannonside radio recently, Regret.ie co-founder Lorraine Colohan explained "The aim of our group is to bring awareness, for the first years going in, that the parents have the facts. These girls are chronically ill - this is serious and there's going to be a lot more injured. September is coming and time is ticking away..". 
When asked if she was determined to keep the campaign going, she replied "REGRET isn't going away, we owe it to our daughters and we actually owe it to the public to make them aware". "We want a meeting with Leo Varakker, we want him to listen, we know he's aware we exist" she added.  

School Principals recently received a letter from Dr Kevin Kelleher, who runs the country's immunisation program, referring to recent media coverage regarding the safety of Gardasil (HPV) vaccine. He reminded the Principals that Gardasil is safe and effective and requested them to only distribute HSE leaflets, and not forward any other non-HSE vaccine information to parents.                                                                            

The European Medicines Agency recently began a safety review on Gardasil and the investigation will run until May 2016. Japan no longer recommends the HPV vaccine as a result of a similar review of serious reactions in 2013. There have been an abnormally high rate of serious reactions reported in all countries who adopted the vaccine, including deaths. The official US government reporting database VAERS has reported 232 deaths associated with the HPV vaccine up to July 2015.

Regret.ie now has 75 families in the support group who blame the vaccine for their daughter's health problems. There have been 945 reports of suspected HPV vaccine adverse reactions reported in Ireland up to 16/07/2015. 

*According to the FDA, a serious adverse event must fit one of the following criteria: death, life-threatening, hospitalization, disability or permanent damage, congenital abnormality/birth defect, or the requirement to intervene to prevent permanent impairment.
 

If your child has suffered health issues that you think may have been triggered by Gardasil, and you wish to get in contact with other parents who have had a similar experience, please contact us at: