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Journal of Child Neurology
J Child Neurol 2010; 25; 321
Francis J. DiMario, Jr, Mirna Hajjar and Thomas Ciesielski
A 16-Year-Old Girl With Bilateral Visual Loss and Left Hemiparesis Following an Immunization Against Human Papilloma Virus

Visual loss is a symptom that can occur from lesions anywhere along the visual pathways. Binocular visual loss can be further localized depending on
the size and location of the scotoma identified on examination. Lesions affecting the chiasm, in particular, may produce bitemporal visual field loss and the additional
involvement of the optic nerves and/or retrochiasmatic visual pathways will induce more complete degrees of blindness.

There are a multitude of etiologies that produce this latter pattern of visual loss; however, the pace of progression, the anatomic localization of the process, and the precipitating circumstances will aid in pathophysiologic classification as compressive or noncompressive. Noncompressive etiologies involving the chiasm include processes within the spectrum from acute to a more chronic temporal course.

This slower time course is characteristic of infiltrative lesions, granulomatous diseases, axonal dieback phenomenon secondary to multiple sclerosis,1 and Leber hereditary optic neuropathy. Acute noncompressive lesions of the optic chiasm have been described in infectious settings with Lyme disease,2 Epstein-Barr virus,3,4 varicella zoster virus5 and mumps,6 systemic lupus erythematosus, 7,8 and demyelinating processes (eg, neuromyelitis optica and multiple sclerosis).

Tumefactive demyelinating lesions are those defined as large (>2 cm) lesions with a surrounding zone of edema with or without accompanying mass effect. There have been a few case reports and case series in the literature where tumefactive lesions have been described in the context of both multiple
sclerosis and acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis.

However, chiasmal neuritis as part of acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis has not to our knowledge been reported in the medical literature. Although chiasmal neuritis generally tends to have a more favorable outcome with eventual return of vision over time, when it is caused by neuromyelitis optica and Leber hereditary optic neuropathy the outcomes have been poorer with sustained visual loss.

We report the case of a 16-year-old girl who suffered an acute and sustained onset of bilateral visual loss and transient left hemiparesis following an immunization against human papilloma virus, who was found to have both a tumefactive demyelinating lesion and chiasmal neuritis as part of a presentation of acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis.

Read the full case report here.

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Christina England
vactruth.com
01/06/2010

How many damaged children does the world have to see before the answer to this question becomes obvious? Yes, Governments do lie! They lie every time a child is vaccinated by assuring parents vaccines are completely safe. We have a world of the unhealthiest children ever. The incidence of conditions like Autism, ADHD, GBS, Obesity, Eczema, Asthma and Allergies have never been so high and yet still the Governments around the world tell us vaccines are safe and will help our children to stay fit and well, well they are not working that well then, are they?

Yesterday, I received two emails both telling sad heart wrenching tales of children damaged by these ‘oh so safe vaccines’. One in particular is the story that will make every mother with a young girl about to be vaccinated with the ‘wonder vaccine Gardasil’ think twice .

“My daughter, age 15, received the 3rd dose of Gardasil on December 28th, 2009. Within 10 minutes after the injection into her left arm she felt extremely dizzy, her eyes rolled back into her head several times, her head wobbled like a newborn baby who can’t support their head, she broke out in a sweat, her legs were like rubberbands and down she went!! Passed out even before reaching the exit door of her pediatricians office! She lay there twitching and shaking with seizure movements and the nurse took her blood pressure which was 92/30!! Nurse said this was very low, and that this is happening to a LOT of their patients that are receiving Gardasil! Tell me why and how this vaccine is considered to be safe and necessary when it is slowing girls heart rate down so low that they are passing out and not getting enough oxygen to their brain?!?! My daughter is extremely healthy, and active in sports, never fainted or had seizures in her life, came into the office walking on her own two feet and wound up on the floor shaking and twitching with seizures!! I am highly concerned and angry with this topic!! Why isn’t this being looked into more and possibly pulled off the market? The doctors office said they do NOT need to report this to the FDA because it’s listed as a possibly side effect. BULL!!!!!! How is anyone going to know what’s happening with our girls if nothing is being documented and reported! Mom’s and daughters out there, please get online and report this yourselves to the website VAERS. This needs to be addressed. It’s killing girls! Go onto the internet and research side effects of Gardasil, up to 30 some women have died shortly after receiving this vaccine! The heart is something we should not be messing with, would the drug company Merck & Co. want to have a vaccine injected into their arm that drops them to the floor and have seizures?? And possibly DEATH!!!!”

I would like to bring your attention to the line – “The doctors office said they do NOT need to report this to the FDA because it’s listed as a possibly side effect.” Sadly the doctor is partially right here, seizure like activity has now been listed as a side effect of Gardasil, Merck you see covered their backsides on this, a while ago. This was done by adding ’seizures’ to the list of side effects on their packaging. Of course this was probably due to the high volume of reports of young girls fainting and having so called ‘non epileptic’ seizures after the Gardasil vaccine, however, lets make it quite clear all side effects should be reported.

Merck finally conceded to add seizures to their packaging
Merck finally conceded to include these side effects to their packaging and labelling as from 9th June 2009.

Information Pertaining to Labelling Revision for Gardasil

“On June 9, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a revised label for Gardasil, a vaccine to protect against cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancers caused by Human Papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 and genital warts caused by HPV types 6 and 11. In the new label, information pertaining to syncope (fainting) is now also included in the Warnings and Precautions section, and this section has new information noting that individuals who faint sometimes have tonic-clonic (jerking) movements and seizure-like activity.

The addition of syncope to the Warnings and Precautions section emphasizes that healthcare providers and consumers should be alert that fainting may occur following vaccination with Gardasil, sometimes resulting in falling and injuries. To prevent falls and injuries all vaccine recipients should remain seated or lying down and be closely observed for 15 minutes following vaccination.”

Mind you, it only took this giant drugs company a total of three years to achieve and was only due to the high level of girls having seizure like episodes after a Gardasil vaccination.

What has always mystified me and I find extremely confusing, is the difference between “individuals who faint, sometimes having tonic-clonic (jerking) movements and seizure-like activity,” and those who have an actual epileptic seizure. As I understand it a full ‘Grand Mal’ fit is an episode where a person drops to floor which could be described as a faint and begins to jerk uncontrollably. I wonder can someone from Merck please enlighten me to the difference here? The Epilepsy Foundation could not, as they seem to describe a Grand Mal Seizure, in the same way as Merck are now describing them as a side effect on their new labeling.

Many people have become confused and do not understand the difference between the terms “seizure” and “epilepsy”, so let me explain. A person can have a single seizure without going on to develop Epilepsy. A seizure is simply caused by an abnormal electrical discharge in the brain and sometimes happens when a person as a fever. So what is causing seizures in the girls receiving the Gardasil vaccination? Many doctors and professionals fully believe it is the ingredients in the vaccination that are causing young women to have seizures after vaccinations. The papers on Profitable Harm has references from professionals worldwide stating that in their medical professional opinion Gardasil is unsafe and has the full ingredients of Gardasil listed but for clarity I will list them here .

Ingredients in GARDASIL

The ingredients are

1. proteins of HPV Types 6, 11, 16, and 18,
2. amorphous aluminum hydroxyphosphate sulfate,
3. yeast protein,
4. sodium chloride,
5. L-histidine, polysorbate 80,
6. sodium borate,
7. and water for injection.

Dr Diane Harper speaks out

Dr. Diane Harper says young girls and their parents should receive more complete warnings before receiving the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. She feels that not enough information is offered to parents. Dr. Harper helped design and carry out the Phase II and Phase III safety and effectiveness studies to get Gardasil approved, and has written many of the published papers about it. She has been a paid speaker and consultant to Merck. It is extremely unusual for a researcher to publicly criticize a medicine or vaccine that she has helped get approved however, she is fast becoming well known for her outspokenness and indeed her criticism of the HPV vaccines.

In a recent interview Diane Harper made the following statement:-

Interview with Marcia G. Yerman – An Interview with Dr. Diane M. Harper — HPV Expert

Statement:

“The most important point that I have always said from day one, is that the use of this vaccine must be done with informed consent and complete disclosure of the benefits and harms of Pap screening and HPV vaccines. The decision to be vaccinated must be the woman’s (or parent’s if it is for a young child), and not the physician’s or any board of health, as the vaccination contains personal risk that only the person can value.”

As all of the information in the United States concerned Gardasil, since that was the only vaccine approved in the U.S. from June 2006 until this past October 2009, my comments have been focused on Gardasil.

My points are as follows:

The Benefits of Pap Screening:

• Individual benefit to detect early pre-cancers.

• Public health benefit: Only when 70% of the population has been screened will the population incidence of cervical cancer drop.

• Pap tests do not kill or handicap.

The Harms of Pap Screening:
• Screening must be repeated throughout a woman’s life. One screen is not sufficient to protect her from cervical cancer

• False negative rate of cytology screening: Among the women who develop cervical cancer in the U.S., 30% are women who have been routinely screened, and all their Paps have been normal.

• False positive rate of cytology screening: Women who screen abnormal are psychologically upset, anxious and left doubting the medical process (i.e. Her Pap was abnormal, but her colposcopy and biopsy were normal, with no explanation why her Pap was abnormal).

• Quality of life harms: Women with abnormal Paps have anxiety as high as women diagnosed with cervical cancer undergoing their surgical treatment. The stress of going to colposcopy and biopsy can be high for many women. The contemplation of a cervical biopsy and a scraping of the endocervical canal can lead to fear of pain.

• Relationship harms: Once women are told they have an abnormal Pap and that the Pap is abnormal because of a STD called HPV, most relationships are stressed as the partners attempt to understand who brought the infection to the relationship.

• Excisional treatments for detected precancerous lesions cause preterm deliveries in subsequent pregnancies, with concomitant low birth weight infants (which puts the infant at risk for life). In addition, scarring from the treatments lead to an increased cesarean section delivery method (as the cervix does not dilate normally due to scarring from prior excisions). These reproductive morbidities occur between 70%-300% more often in women with excisions.

• Recurrence of HPV associated cervical/vaginal/anal cancers at a rate of 3-12 times higher than those women who never had a cervical cancer precursor or cancer. These recurrences happen around ten years after treatment with peak recurrences between ten and twenty years from the initial treatment.

The Benefits of HPV vaccination:

• Cervarix protects against five cancer-causing types of HPV, which lead to CIN 2+ (precancers and cancers).

• Gardasil protects against three cancer-causing types of HPV, which lead to CIN 2+ (precancers and cancers).

• Cervarix induces antibody titers for HPV 16 and 18 that are at least ten fold higher than natural infection titers; the antibody titers for the other three cancer causing types (HPV 31, 45, 33) are also significantly higher than natural infection titers, and the titers stay high for at least 7.4 years – lasting the longer of either vaccines.

• Gardasil only maintains antibody titers for HPV 16 (not 18, not 11, not 6) at five years, making the true long lasting (five years) coverage of Gardasil only for one type of cancercausing HPV.

• If vaccination occurs within one year of the onset of sexual activity, there will be 57/1000 cases of all CIN 2+ types and persistent HPV 16/18 infections prevented, as compared to only 17/1000 cases prevented if virgins are vaccinated.

The Harms of HPV Vaccination:

• Duration of efficacy is key to the entire question. If duration is at least fifteen years, then vaccinating 11-year-old girls will protect them until they are 26 and will prevent some precancers, but postpone most cancers. If duration of efficacy is less than fifteen years, then no cancers are prevented, only postponed.

• Safety: There is at least one verified case of auto-immune initiated motor neuron disease declared triggered by Gardasil (presented by neurologists at the 2009 American Neurological Association meeting in Baltimore, Maryland). There are serious adverse events, including death, associated with Gardasil use.

• No population benefit in reduction of cervical cancer incidence in the United States with HPV vaccination as long as screening continues.

• Incidence rate of cervical cancer in the United States based on screening is 7/100,000 women per year.

• Incidence rate of cervical cancer if women are only vaccinated with Gardasil is 14/100,000 per year (twice the rate of cervical cancer if young women vaccinated with Gardasil do not seek Pap testing at 21 years and the rest of their life).

• Incidence rate of cervical cancer with Cervarix vaccination is 9/100,000 per year– better than with Gardasil, but still more than with screening alone.

• Incidence of cervical cancer without screening and without vaccination is nearly 90/100,000 per year. The combination of HPV vaccine and screening in the U.S. will not decrease the incidence of cervical cancer to any measurable degree at the population level. Those women who do not participate in Pap screening, and who are vaccinated, will have some personal benefit for five years for Gardasil and 7.4 years for Cervarix (maybe longer), but they will not affect the population rates.

Boosters for Gardasil after antibodies wane makes the cost of vaccination escalate significantly, and cause implementation challenges to reach those women who might want to be revaccinated.”

I recommend readers read the whole interview. Here we have an expert who clearly says in her first paragraph “ The decision to be vaccinated must be the woman’s (or parent’s if it is for a young child), and not the physician’s or any board of health, as the vaccination contains personal risk that only the person can value.” She later says “There is at least one verified case of auto-immune initiated motor neuron disease declared triggered by Gardasil (presented by neurologists at the 2009 American Neurological Association meeting in Baltimore, Maryland). There are serious adverse events, including death, associated with Gardasil use.”

However the FDA, CDC and the USA Government says that this vaccine is safe and recommends it. This is a lie as how can a vaccine that has death as side effect be safe? How can a vaccine that has seizures as a side effect be safe?

The FDA state the following:-

“Based on the review of available information by FDA and CDC, Gardasil continues to be safe and effective, and its benefits continue to outweigh its risks.”

However when Diane Harper was asked by Marcia the following question :-

Do you believe that the Gardasil vaccine, as it currently stands, could present more risks to a young girl or woman than the possibility of cervical cancer?

She replied

“Pap smears have never killed anyone.

Pap smears are an effective screening tool to prevent cervical cancer Pap smears alone prevent more cervical cancers than can the vaccines alone.

Gardasil is associated with serious adverse events, including death. If Gardasil is given to 11 year olds, and the vaccine does not last at least fifteen years, then there is no benefit – and only risk – for the young girl. Vaccinating will not reduce the population incidence of cervical cancerif the woman continues to get Pap screening throughout her life.

If a woman is never going to get Pap screening, then a HPV vaccine could offer her a better chance of not developing cervical cancer, and this protection may be valued by the woman as worth the small but real risks of serious adverse events. On the other hand, the woman may not value the protection from Gardasil as being worth the risk knowing that 1) she is at low risk for a persistent HPV infection and 2) most pre-cancers can be detected and treated successfully. It is entirely a personal value judgment.”

This indicates to me that Diane Harper believes this vaccine is not only ineffective but in some cases extremely dangerous.

Governments worldwide are lying

It seems Governments worldwide are lying to us, they are doing this by brainwashing us into believing that vaccines are safe.

We were lied to when the told us that the vaccinations do not cause Autism and yet studies show worldwide that more vaccinated than unvaccinated children are Autistic.

Dr Eisenstein has said that Homefirst Medical Services has taken care of about 30,000 to 35,000 unvaccinated children over the years and he does not remember a single case of autism in children who never received vaccines.

Studies over the years have proven that unvaccinated children are healthier.

No Autism in Never- Vaccinated Children quotes:-

“In Chicago, Homefirst Medical Services treats thousands of never- vaccinated children whose parents received exemptions through Illinois’ relatively permissive immunization policy. Homefirst’s medical director, Dr. Mayer Eisenstein, told us he is not aware of any cases of autism in never-vaccinated children; the national rate is 1 in 175, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. “We have a fairly large practice,” Eisenstein told us. “We have about 30,000 or 35,000 children that we’ve taken care of over the years, and I don’t think we have a single case of autism in children delivered by us who never received vaccines. “We do have enough of a sample,” Eisenstein said. “The numbers are too large to not see it. We would absolutely know. We’re all family doctors. If I have a child with autism come in, there’s no communication. It’s frightening. You can’t touch them. It’s not something that anyone would miss.”

Governments have lied to us when they said that the H1N1 vaccine is safe.

The Local (Swedish News in English) reports of four cases where people have died after receiving the Swine flu vaccine.

The Jerusalem Post reports the death of a 75 year old, who died two days after receiving the Swine Flu vaccine

Bild.com reports on the agonising death of a toddler after the Swine Flu vaccine.

MSNBC News reports that a 14 year old boy has been struck down with GBS after Swine Flu Vaccine

Prison Planet reports that several women are speaking out after they have miscarried after the Swine Flu vaccine

BreakingNews.ie reports two deaths in China after Swine Flu vaccine

Belfast Telegraph reports boy rushed into hospital after Swine Flu Vaccine

Clearly for these and many others it was not.

And Governments are lying to us when they say that Gardasil and Cervarix are safe.

Katherine Kimzey a 14-year-old girl who experienced headaches, fainting, and stiff joints after receiving the second shot of her three-dose Gardasil vaccine battery. A few weeks later, Katherine had a seizure and was eventually diagnosed with epilepsy. Katherine is one girl of many who has encountered a serious adverse reaction after receiving Gardasil.

Here are a few more I found on Gardasil and epilepsy : Medications.com

1. “Hi, my name is Hannah and I am a senior in college. At the age of 19, I was diagnosed with epilepsy. I was a sophmore in college at the time, had a job, and was a completely HEALTHY girl. I have been living with the disease for two year now, and my doctors still can’t come up with the cause for my seizures. Recently my sister called me to ask if I had received the gardasil shot, because on CNN talk radio that people were starting to think that the garasil shot might be linked to paralysis,seizures, and even death. I immediately called my OBGYN to ask the dates in which I had received my shots. My first dose was given on Oct.17, 2006. I had my first set of seizures on Nov. 24, 2006. WOW…I was in shock. I feel like I now have an answer for the cause of my illness. I talked to my Neurologist about this and he said we will have to wait until more research is done. I am convinced that Gardasil was the reason for my epilepsy. I am so sad to think that other girls are going in to receive a vaccine that is suppose to help their lives, and instead they could have crippling side effects that never go away. I can no longer drive, I had to choose between school and a job, and now I have to plan my day around taking my medicine. All because a drug company wanted to make some money before their completely researched their product.”

2. “Hi. My 17 year old daughter’s story is similar. She had her second Gardasil vaccination during the end of January 2008. During the month of February and March, she had abdominal problems. Beginning on March 30th, she had seizures. She had a CT of the head, MRI of the brain, EEG, 24 hour EEG and as I type this note, she are in the epilepsy center at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia and the doctor just came in to tell me that every test is coming back normal and that my daughter is having “stress” seizures. My daughter has no more stress than any other 17 year old girl does.
I related to the doctor my thoughts pertaining to Gardasil and I feel as though he has dismissed my idea.
I have found some many stories similar to yours and my daughter’s but I believe because Gardasil is so new, nothing is coming out yet about it.
If anyone has any other information, please advise!! We are desperate here in Philadelphia.
Jodi”

3. “My daughter received her first shot on 6/20/2007 when she was 14 years old and second shot on 12/27/2007. During this time frame she complained of having headaches daily. On 1/8/2008 my daughter had a seizure. She had been a healthy, dancer and scholastic student. Since her shot she has had a total of 12 seizures and has been in and out of hospitals numerous times. She was diagnosed with epilepsy in March of 2008. She has been on Topamax, Keppra, Lamictal and Zonegran and continues to have seizures. The side effects from the medications that my daughter has suffered with along with depression has been tremendous.
We thought we were protecting our daughter and found that we have only hurt her. The doctors need to stop pushing the shot and it needs to be taken off the market. Because of this shot she has to be dependent on more drugs. She has missed so much school, which were important years (freshman & sophmore) that she will never get back. How many more girls need to suffer!”

Girls in the UK have reported epileptic seizures after th UK HPV vaccine Cervarix.

Ashleigh Cave has had a couple of seizures since her vaccination of Cervarix. Ashleigh is now partially paralysed and her mother has been accused of Munchausen by Proxy or making her symptoms up to gain attention.

Carley Steele now has blackouts, since her Cervarix vaccine.

“And that’s when the blackouts started,’ says Amanda. Several times she found Carly collapsed after what she described as a ’split-second blackout’.”

Petit Mal seizures perhaps?

Paige Brennan also has had seizures, her mother says:-

“She was “perfectly normal” until she came home from school with a headache. Within hours she was having seizures and ended up in intensive care.”

In each case doctors have blamed other reasons for these seizures and blackouts but in all cases these children only started to have the problems after the oh so safe Cervarix or Gardasil vaccination.

Clearly our vaccinations are not safe. I will leave you to ponder with a poem written by the mother of a vaccine damaged child.

This Journey…Melissa Saunders

I read the books, I went to classes
I ate good food, and drank 8 glasses.
I took it easy, as my belly grew
I did it all…All for You!

I felt you move, I felt you kick
I forgave you when you made me sick :)
I loved you more with each passing day
I couldn’t wait ‘til you were here to stay.

Well that day came, and I’ll never forget
As that’s the day my world was lit.
Your eyes so bright, your hair so fine
Couldn’t be more proud to call you Mine!

As the weeks flew by, so did the months…
And before I knew it, you had turned ONE!
Up ‘til then, you progressed so well
But that all changed, and you went down hill.

My beautiful girl, as smart as can be
Regressed into Autism after your vaccine
I never questioned, I had no clue
What this needle could actually do.

Now you struggle, with everyday tasks
The simple things, you cannot ask.
It’s taken your words, the one’s you once had
And turned them to screaming, driving you mad!

At times I just lay here, and can’t help but cry
I question God, wondering why?
But the answer’s clear, so plain to see
The people I trusted, had deceived me.

They all should hang, their heads in shame
Admit the truth and take the blame.
They know the danger, but turn away
And continue to injure our kids each day.

But I’ve chosen to put, my anger aside
Along with my hopes and dreams that’s died.
And focus on making more parents aware
Share our story, cuz the proof’s right there!

Although I hate to see you like this
You have fulfilled my life with eternal bliss
We’ll always take, this journey together
And I promise to love you, forever and ever!

Monday, 26 October 2009 “The rate of serious adverse events is greater than the incidence rate of cervical cancer.”

Dr. Diane Harper, the lead researcher in the development of two human papilloma virus vaccines, Merck’s Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix, injected sobering facts about these much promoted vaccines. Indeed, Dr. Harper, who analyzed the data, raised serious doubts about the medical justification for use of the HPV vaccines in Western-industrialized countries where current screening has all but wiped out the death rate from cervical cancer:

Speaking at the 4th International Public Conference on Vaccination (Oct. 2-4) Dr. Harper explained that:
“70 percent of all HPV infections resolve themselves without treatment within a year. Within two years, the number climbs to 90 percent. Of the remaining 10 percent of HPV infections, only half will develop into cervical cancer, which leaves little need for the vaccine.”

She went on to surprise the audience by stating that the incidence of cervical cancer in the U.S. is already so low that “even if we get the vaccine and continue PAP screening, we will not lower the rate of cervical cancer in the US.”

Dr. Harper, who also serves as a consultant to the World Health Organization, further undercut the case for mass vaccination in industrialized countries by saying that “four out of five women with cervical cancer are in developing countries.”

Furthermore, she said, there have been no efficacy trials in children under the age of 15: “It is silly to mandate vaccination of 11 to 12 year old girls. There also is not enough evidence gathered on side effects to know that safety is not an issue.”

To date, 15,037 girls have officially reported adverse side effects from Gardasil to the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). These adverse reactions include Guilliane Barre, lupus, seizures, paralysis, blood clots, brain inflammation and many others. The CDC acknowledges that there have been 44 reported deaths.

In Britain, the government began administering the vaccine to school-aged girls last year, more than 2,000 patients reported some kind of adverse reaction including nausea, dizziness, blurred vision, convulsions, seizures and hyperventilation. Several reported multiple reactions, with 4,602 suspected side-effects recorded in total. The most tragic case involved a 14 year-old girl who dropped dead in the corridor of her school an hour after receiving the vaccination.

Bottom line: “The rate of serious adverse events is greater than the incidence rate of cervical cancer.”

So why are public health agencies in the US and the UK promoting the vaccines for young girls when the risk / benefit ratio is clearly tilted against its use????

This is but another example of aggressive marketing skewing public health policy, overriding good medical practice and the dictum, “First, do no harm.” The case lends  further support for increased public distrust.

Posted by Vera Sharav

The Philadelphia Bulletin
Gardasil Researcher Drops A Bombshell
Harper: Controversal Drug Will Do Little To Reduce Cervical Cancer Rates
BY SUSAN BRINKMANN, FOR THE BULLETIN
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2009

Dr. Diane Harper, lead researcher in the development of two human papilloma virus vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix, said the controversial drugs will do little to reduce cervical cancer rates and, even though they’re being recommended for girls as young as nine, there have been no efficacy trials in children under the age of 15.

Dr. Harper, director of the Gynecologic Cancer Prevention Research Group at the University of Missouri, made these remarks during an address at the 4th International Public Conference on Vaccination which took place in Reston, Virginia on Oct. 2-4. Although her talk was intended to promote the vaccine, participants said they came away convinced the vaccine should not be received.

“I came away from the talk with the perception that the risk of adverse side effects is so much greater than the risk of cervical cancer, I couldn’t help but question why we need the vaccine at all,” said Joan Robinson, Assistant Editor at the Population Research Institute.

Dr. Harper began her remarks by explaining that 70 percent of all HPV infections resolve themselves without treatment within a year. Within two years, the number climbs to 90 percent. Of the remaining 10 percent of HPV infections, only half will develop into cervical cancer, which leaves little need for the vaccine.
She went on to surprise the audience by stating that the incidence of cervical cancer in the U.S. is already so low that “even if we get the vaccine and continue PAP screening, we will not lower the rate of cervical cancer in the US.”

There will be no decrease in cervical cancer until at least 70 percent of the population is vaccinated, and even then, the decrease will be minimal.

Apparently, conventional treatment and preventative measures are already cutting the cervical cancer rate by four percent a year. At this rate, in 60 years, there will be a 91.4 percent decline just with current treatment. Even if 70 percent of women get the shot and required boosters over the same time period, which is highly unlikely, Harper says Gardasil still could not claim to do as much as traditional care is already doing.

Dr. Harper, who also serves as a consultant to the World Health Organization, further undercut the case for mass vaccination by saying that “four out of five women with cervical cancer are in developing countries.”

Ms. Robinson said she could not help but wonder, “If this is the case, then why vaccinate at all? But from the murmurs of the doctors in the audience, it was apparent that the same thought was occurring to them.”

However, at this point, Dr. Harper dropped an even bigger bombshell on the audience when she announced that, “There have been no efficacy trials in girls under 15 years.”

Merck, the manufacturer of Gardasil, studied only a small group of girls under 16 who had been vaccinated, but did not follow them long enough to conclude sufficient presence of effective HPV antibodies.

This is not the first time Dr. Harper revealed the fact that Merck never tested Gardasil for safety in young girls. During a 2007 interview with KPC News.com, she said giving the vaccine to girls as young as 11 years-old “is a great big public health experiment.”

At the time, which was at the height of Merck’s controversial drive to have the vaccine mandated in schools, Dr. Harper remained steadfastly opposed to the idea and said she had been trying for months to convince major television and print media about her concerns, “but no one will print it.”

“It is silly to mandate vaccination of 11 to 12 year old girls,” she said at the time. “There also is not enough evidence gathered on side effects to know that safety is not an issue.”

When asked why she was speaking out, she said: “I want to be able to sleep with myself when I go to bed at night.”

Since the drug’s introduction in 2006, the public has been learning many of these facts the hard way. To date, 15,037 girls have officially reported adverse side effects from Gardasil to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). These adverse reactions include Guillain Barre, lupus, seizures, paralysis, blood clots, brain inflammation and many others. The CDC acknowledges that there have been 44 reported deaths.

Dr. Harper also participated in the research on Glaxo-Smith-Kline’s version of the drug, Cervarix, currently in use in the UK but not yet approved here. Since the government began administering the vaccine to school-aged girls last year, more than 2,000 patients reported some kind of adverse reaction including nausea, dizziness, blurred vision, convulsions, seizures and hyperventilation. Several reported multiple reactions, with 4,602 suspected side-effects recorded in total. The most tragic case involved a 14 year-old girl who dropped dead in the corridor of her school an hour after receiving the vaccination.

The outspoken researcher also weighed in last month on a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that raised questions about the safety of the vaccine, saying bluntly: “The rate of serious adverse events is greater than the incidence rate of cervical cancer.”

Ms. Robinson said she respects Dr. Harper’s candor. “I think she’s a scientist, a researcher, and she’s genuine enough a scientist to be open about the risks. I respect that in her.” However, she failed to make the case for Gardasil. “For me, it was hard to resist the conclusion that Gardasil does almost nothing for the health of American women.”

It’s been months since dancer and former gymnast Nicole Goodman of Pocasset has been able to do a forward jazz slide or a kick ball change move.

The 18-year-old fell ill weeks after receiving her third Gardasil shot, and she blames the vaccine for the human papillomavirus for putting her in a wheelchair.

“I was a normal teenager. I did everything,” says the Bourne High School graduate. She played softball and basketball in community leagues and took lessons in lyric and jazz dance.

But weeks after receiving the third shot of the Gardasil vaccine, Goodman found herself in a downhill health slide. A charley-horse-type pain in her right leg led to spasms and tremors. She experienced fainting episodes, an irregular heartbeat and nausea so severe that she lost 15 pounds in one month and had to go on intravenous fluids.

Her left leg and foot are now stuck in a sort of permanent spasm, and Goodman says she developed a red rash on her upper body around the same time.

“So many girls have that rash,” she says.

Goodman is referring to the “Gardasil Girls,” an informal nickname for girls and young women who believe they have been injured by the Merck vaccine that was approved in 2006 and has been heavily marketed as a preventative for cervical cancer.

Their numbers include Rachel Whiting, 17, of Orleans and Madeline Wunder, 17, of Brewster, both students at Nauset Regional High School who experienced autoimmune-type disorders shortly after receiving Gardasil injections.

They says their side effects include digestive problems, rashes and severe muscle pain, among other ailments. “It’s just a nightmare,” says Rachel’s mother, Kim Whiting. She brought her daughter to Boston last week for a bone marrow biopsy and other tests to find out why Rachel’s lymph nodes are so inflamed.

“She’s in pain every day,” Donna Wunder says of her daughter, Madeline, a competitive figure skater.

Wunder is convinced that Gardasil caused her daughter’s symptoms, and she says she wishes she’d never approved the shots.

“I got sold the whole bill of goods that this is wonderful,” she says. Wunder says Madeline had to drop out of a major skating competition this month because she can no longer land jumps or handle a four-minute routine.
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