Lynda Wharton Naturopath Acupuncturist Writer

In the past week the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil has been in the New Zealand news again.  I watched the six o’clock news a few nights ago as Dr Karen Poutassi from the Ministry of Health reassured New Zealand women that this vaccine is extremely safe.  She smiled and told us that side effects reported following Gardasil shots were mostly mild; and young girls fainting after their shot, merely the result of seeing a whopping great needle coming their way. 

And what of the 47 deaths in other parts of the world, which have occurred in the days or weeks following Gardasil vaccine? Apparently,  they are coincidental, and impossible to connect with the vaccine. 

 
As a health practitioner, writer and health researcher who has followed the Gardasil campaign with growing concern, I strongly believe women should make an INFORMED choice whether or not to vaccinate themselves or their daughters with this vaccine.  That means knowing a whole lot more than the smooth PR patter dished out in the consent forms finding their way home in backpacks around the land.

Putting aside the issue of whether or not this vaccine will ultimately prove effective in preventing cervical cancer, let’s take a look simply at the safety profile of this drug.

In America the Gardasil campaign has been running much longer than in New Zealand, and much larger numbers of women have been vaccinated, so it’s worth looking at their experience. 

 
Adverse effects from vaccines are reported to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System or VAERS.   It’s worth noting that it’s estimated that somewhere between 1 and 10% of vaccine adverse reactions are actually reported to VAERS.  To date, VAERS has received over 16,000 Gardasil related reports, including 47 deaths. 

Blood clots seem to figure highly in the post vaccine deaths, over half of them in the first week following vaccination.  While we are assured that these deaths are not associated with Gardasil, and merely coincidental, it’s hard not to question this reassurance when you read the details of the dead women. 

How often do healthy, strong, fit 11 and 12 year olds suddenly die of a blood clot?  These are girls with no pre-existing health conditions… not on the pill, and not smoking…. Suddenly dying from a blood clot?  It’s virtually unheard of…. Until Gardasil arrived on the scene.

 
I have been fascinated with the results of a new study by the National Vaccine Information Centre.  This American organisation accessed all the VAERS data for Gardasil and another vaccine called Menactra (a meningitis vaccine), which is administered to girls (and boys) in the same age bracket as Gardasil, through school vaccination programs.   If, as we are told, the faintings, neurological and cardiovascular symptoms we’re seeing after Gardasil vaccine, are merely coincidental, then it follows that we would see roughly the same incidence of VAERS reports with Menactra, as with Gardasil…. Right? 

 
WRONG. 

 
Compared with reported incidents after Menactra vaccination, Gardasil vaccination resulted in:

*twice as many emergency room visits

*seven times as many “disabled” reports

*five times more “did not recover” reports

*four times more deaths

*twenty three times more blood clots (none associated with Menectra)

*four times as many cardiac arrest reports

*six times as many fainting reports

*fifteen times as many strokes

*thirty three times as many thrombosis reports

 
It is highly unusual for there to be such a big discrepancy between two vaccines used in the same population, involving serious and relatively rare life threatening adverse events.  Based on their research the National Vaccine Information Centre has warned that Gardasil appears to be highly reactive.  They have asked for federal health agencies to inform physicians and parents about serious health problems associated with the new vaccine.

Do not be panicked into believing that cervical cancer will kill your daughter if she doesn’t have this vaccine.  The truth is that the incidence of cervical cancer is greatly in the decline in the west, and even before Gardasil, cervical cancer was a largely preventable disease.  This is usually a very slow growing cancer which can be readily detected and treated at its “pre-cancerous” stage through a standard pap smear. 

In countries which introduced routine pap smears in the 1950’s there has been a 75% reduction in the incidence of cervical cancer up until 1992.  Since then cervical cancer rates have continued to decline by almost 4% annually.  In countries with a high screening rate, cervical cancer accounts for less than 1 to 2% of all diagnosed cancer.

 
In New Zealand around 160 cases are diagnosed annually, with a death rate of around 60 women per year. (that’s about 2.5 cases per 100,000 women).  Most of these women would have lived if their cancer had been caught in the early precancer stages, through regular pap smears.  While it’s true that occasionally extremely aggressive cervical cancer can grow and kill in the two to three year gap between smears, this is rare.  Remember too that we already know the ways in which our daughters can protect themselves from cervical cancer. These include:

 
*having regular pap smears once they become sexually active

*Being a non-smoker

*practicing safe sex using condoms

*limiting the number of sexual partners

*eating a nutritious diet containing plenty of antioxidants, folate and selenium.

So when you open your daughters backpack and the glossy consent form falls out, pause a while… a long while, to consider your options.  This is an important decision.  Why not make it your job to ensure that if you sign on the dotted line, it truly is an INFORMED consent, based not just on the glossy PR schmooze, but a carefully considered look at both sides of the Gardasil debate. 

Remember too, that you have the option of watchful waiting; delaying your decision to vaccinate, while listening a little longer to the growing tide of concern from women, women’s health advocates, scientists, researchers and doctors from around the world.

 
Lynda Wharton is a health researcher, writer and natural health practitioner with a special interest in women’s health.  She is the author of three women’s health books including “Wellbeing” by Harper Collins.

More at www.lyndawharton.com