Gardasil for your teen -- yes or no?

News from the nonprofit group Judicial Watch of reported side effects to the vaccine Gardasil likely aren't making decisions any easier for parents of adolescent and teenage girls. Here you have a vaccine that protects against major strains of the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus, which causes cervical cancer.  Regardless of what parents might desire regarding their offspring's sexual behavior, many would see the vaccination as welcome health insurance.

Yet the decision is complicated in light of such matters as the very effective screen (Pap smear) already available for cervical cancer, plus suggestions that the rates of cervical cancer might not be lowered by the vaccine after all, and now reported events that happened after girls received vaccinations, such as, on the mild end, nausea, and on the extreme end, 31 cases of the neurological disorder Guillain-Barré Syndrome and 15 deaths.

You can read about these reports, made to the government's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, here. But note: According to the program, which is run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, cause and effect between vaccination and such reported events haven't been established. "Just because a health problem is reported to VAERS does not mean it was caused by a vaccine .... sometimes people who are vaccinated get sick from another cause unrelated to the vaccine," the website notes.

We're wondering what parents think. It would be understandable if some parents who were persuaded by the commercials -- which all but said "get this vaccine for your kid if you want to be a good parent" -- are now having second thoughts. Write and let us know what's on your mind.

-- Rosie Mestel

Comments

[Laura J.]

Adverse events reported after Gardasil have not convinced me that this is not a good vaccine. The rate of some of the conditions is less than would happen by chance and the overall rate of serious events is about 7% , half of the 10-15% serious events that are usually seen with vaccines in general.
I sure wish parents were not manipulated by such reports.
This vaccine is particularly important for those young people who fall through the cracks and don't have the guidance in their lives to help them make wise decisions about their sexual activity and health.

[Mary]

I am a parent of 3 young daughters. After the 2nd dose of the shot. My 20 year old had a stroke after 22 days after receiving the Gardasil shot. So I am not giving my daughters the 3rd dose.

[T. Cox]

Cervical cancer is not a major issue for the women who read the LA Times, but it is a big risk for the less well informed general public who will now be dissuaded from getting the vaccine by a story that sensationalizes side effects.

[Kristine F.]

I will not be taking my 3rd booster shot of gardasil. As soon as I was injected with the initial shot, I passed out. Within a couple of weeks, I began to be consistently nauseated every day. I passed out in the lobby of the doctor's office after my first booster shot. After both, I spent most of the day in a daze. I've been on this for 5 months & I still have naeusa.

[val]

Are there any repurcussions from not taking the third booster shot..

[mom]

I hear that Erin Brockovich is very interested in Gardasil, so she would be THE person to contact if you have had a bad experience with it--

[April]

I passed out within minutes of receiving the Gardasil vaccine and experienced seizure-like convulsions. I hit my head when I passed out, bruising my foreheard and nose, biting my lip, and causing whiplash. I felt very unlike myself for the week following, experiencing headaches, nausea, lightheadedness, acute diarrhea, and soreness in my neck and back. Despite my doctor's recommendation, I will not be be receiving the rest of the series. A reaction like that is not normal, though I am fortunate the effects were not more severe.

[Jamie Hougas]

I took my daughter to get her second shot in the series in the end of January. Shortly after getting the shot she got the "flu". two weeks after getting over that, She was hospitalized for 4 days with pancreatitis. Anyone who knows medicine knows that for a 10 yr old to get this is highly unusual. She was fine for about 2 weeks then started having abdominal pain. At first she would just have pain every once in a while. Now she has pain everyday. She has now for the last week had bad joint pain in her shoulders and arms. My mother asked me if this all could have anything to do with the shot and I always told her no till I started reading the reports people are writing on these blogs and found out more info. Thank you so much for putting your stories out there at least now we have a direction to go in with her illness. I hope this can help someone to decide not to get this shot, its really not worth the risks!

[Jamie Hougas]

O, and by the way, you also need to take into consideration the fact that for all the adverse events that have been reported, there are always a lot more that have not been reported!

[responsible adult]

I am a 34 year old married woman who has had experience both with HPV and Guillain-Barre. I was diagnosed with HPV in my late twenties and my husband was also independently diagnosed with HPV recently (not at all surprising considering the very high percentages of young people with HPV). He and I have each had one break-out from the virus - resulting in a small, easily removable wart. Interestingly, this summer my husband suffered from an episode of Guillain-Barre (causing loss of vision, total body numbness, trouble speaking and walking, etc.). Speaking as someone who just went through the agonizing, terrifying experience of sitting next to my husband's hospital bedside while he suffered and recovered from Guillain-Barre syndrome, I would suggest to anyone with daughters that the minor inconvenience and embarrassment associated with a wart, or the very screenable and low likelihood of cervical cancer - that HPV is definitely the lesser of the evils.

[Dori Craze]

My daughter experienced tingling in fingertips and cheeks, loss of vision, head ache and nausea shortly after her first injection. She has since had ongoing nausea, severe stomach pain, and low-grade fever for over two months. We didn't associate it with the Gardisil at first because the reaction wasn't immediate. She has had blood , stool,and urine testing, ultrasound of abdomin, and a brain scan...all tests came back normal. Due to this and other sites we are now reporting it. She appeears to be a little better everyday.

[Vicky E.]

My daughter was a healthy 14 year old that had the Gardasil vaccine. Thirteen days after her third injection, both ankles had become very swollen. After 2 emergency visits and almost 3 weeks in the hospital, it was determined that she had blood clots from her knees down to the tip of her toes. Her doctor thought in the beginning she had developed an auto-immune disease (Lupus). However, she did not and still has not had any of the classical characteristics of that disease, therefore he has been and still is questioning what could have caused the blood clots. I don't know if the Gardasil had anything to do with it or not but I certainly do question it and have my suspicians about it. I would not recommend it at this time and would wait for further studies to be done on it.

[jenn]

im 17 years old and took gardisal and I feel great and have nothing wrong to say..I don't think gardisal cuased all the symptoms and effects that people are complaining about. it can happen to anyone, with or without this vaccine.

[Sal Romano]

I have a fourteen year old daughter. Her mother and I are divorced, but on a recent 2 week vacation, I found out from my doughter, that without my knowledge, my ex-wife had my daughter go through the 3 stage vaccination process for Gardasil.

During the past year, she has constantly experienced stomach flu like symptoms, including general tiredness, nausea and some vomitting.

Last year she barely graduated from the eight grade, her grades dropped dramatically, she had been on the honor roll for the last several years.

My question is, have any of your children experienced problems with focusing, memory, problems in school after Gardasil vaccinations?

I know it is hard to determine because of all of the changes going on inside of teens, but I'm trying to determine if Gardasil is a factor in my daughter's school problems.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

[moxie]

I have read the information in this blog about Gardasil. I was against giving it to chilldren and young women from day one. I know how quickly drugs are tested and that many of the test groups are not as large as one would think. We have no information on long term effects from this drug. The medical community and drug companies seem to be thrilled when they can find a drug to relieve everything under the sun. Are we such lemmings that we don't see the side effects that drugs bring about...many which are severe. Being a parent and making a health care decision for our children is not easy, but it should be one we think about very very carefully. I have...and I say no!

[Katie]

HPV is the cause of 70% of the cervical cancer cases, so there is no low risk at all for getting it. This vaccine is 100% effective against the cancer caused by that strand of HPV. Fainting happens with other vaccines also. Yet is one time of fainting, or a feeling of nausea worse than getting cancer. Wouldn't you rather have these minor symptoms than a life threatening disease. HPV is not detectable in men, so one day if your daughters got married, her husband could be a carrier and and she get it without even noticing. So it not just the sexually active teens, anyone can get it. Therefore is it not all the more better to just get rid of that risk all together? I know I will get this vaccine because I would trade fainting for cancer any day. Also then my husband would not need to be afraid that he was carrying some disease that could kill me. So please get the facts before you judge this vaccine. Not many of your symptoms can be put on the vaccine, they can happen to anyone, including people who don't get it.

[catherine]

i am 16 and i recieved the shot and about 5 minutes later i began feeling dizzy and could barely walk. then i could not see straight and loss my hearing for about 5 hours. after the second shot i only felt a little sick and i never went back for the third

[Aline]

My nieces and all of her friends experienced a period of excessive "maturing" after getting the Gardasil shot. I'm sure puberty has a big role in that, but none of then have the curvy genes.

[Caroline]

I'm 24 years old and I received the first shot a little over a month ago. Immdeiately after the injection I had a seizure. The nurse was clearly disturbed by my reaction but the doctor brushed it off saying I had "worked" myself up over the shot. I have never had a seizure before why would I suddenly have one? After doing research it seems this is not the first case, and most likely will not be the last. Why would the FDA release a drug to the public (from a company with a history of drugs with deadly side-effects) when they aren't fully aware of it's lasting effects? I feel misled, I feel as if I was pursuaded to do something that wasn't even necessary? I'm hoping that effects from one shot will not lead to long term damage. I think those of us who have expierenced these frightening effects need to stand up and be heard.

[Becky]

My healthy happy 18 year old daughter got the Gardasil shot because her Grandma has Cervical cancer. So we thought that it was a good idea. After about 4 weeks she was having diffuculty recalling things and was nausauted most to the time. These symptoms continued and increased to confusion and disorientation. She began to have seizures where she would stare and would make a laughing sound followed by confusion and being very tired. On Mothers day weekend she had a seizure where she had convultions and was foaming at the mouth. We spent the weekend at the hospital and she was put on antiseizure medication. All this has ocured during her seinor year of high school. Her memory is so bad that the teachers were letting her take open book test. She can not drive, swim or take a bath. Cervical cancer is not a death sentence and is in most cases treatable. Please make an informed decision before you get your child the Gardasil shot. Had I know this was a possibality I would never gotten her the shot

[Sunny]

I have to thank you guys for posting your stories. after reading this site, watching things on the news i do have to say i am not going to be getting the Gardasil shot. I was thinking about it for awhile, but my mother who is a Nursing Asst. said no she did not want me to get it since it was new. I am 21 year old who is thankful that i listened to my mother and researched a little bit more than just listening to my doctor.

[Barbara]

People need to educate themselves on illnesses & diseases before blindly getting immunizations. If you research cervical cancer you will find that out of the 150 million women in the US 10,000 per year are diagnosed and 3700 die or .0025%. If a woman gets her annual pap smear the abnormal cells would be diagnosed early and treated before turning into cancer. My guess is that most if not all of the 3700 do not get their annual check up and already have cancer by the time they see a doctor. If that is true then millions of young girls getting these injections is really a waste of resources. I will not get my 14 year old daughter the injections.

[Martine]

I have had my #2 shot, and I am not feeling like Im up for my 3rd after hearing all this negative feedback! My question is, does the ingredients in the Gardisil shot, can it leave the body's system after some amount of years?

[Jamie Hougas]

I would just like to respond to Katie that posted on Aug. 20th. I agree and disagree with you about your comment. I do believe that passing out one time is a lot better then getting cancer hence the reason why I decided to get the shot for my daughter. The problem I have with the shot, FDA, CDC, and Merk is that they only tested the the shot for 6 months and then got approval for the vaccine to be administered to millions of young girls. Now, there has been over 9,000 reports of side effects from this drug and none of the agencies that are supposed to protect us want to take responsiblity for the problems that have been linked to this drug. My daughter STILL is not any better in fact it seems to have gotten worse. She has missed a lot of school and can't hang out with her friends and in general can't be a normal 11 year old kid! So, I have been very educated about this drug before I judged it!

Oh, and Sal Ramono, My daughter has also had problems focusing and has had some problems in school, but we got the school involved and they have been helping out with the issue. Ask her if she ever just "feels strange". That is the only way my daughter can describe it.

[Jamie Hougas]

the major ingredients in the drug that they think is causing all the problems are mercury, alluminum, and fermaldihyde. They can and can not leave your body. fermaldihyde can leave your body, but can do damage on the way through. Mercury and alluminium though stay in your system. At least that is what I have read every where I have checked.

Oh, and one more thing, please everyone either report your problems with the shot at www.medalerts.org, or if you want to check them out there, check it out!

I was just like Vickie E., I didn't believe that this drug is what caused the problem till I saw a report about a girl in OK that had gone through the same exact thing as my daughter. Then I found similar stories at the medalerts website.

If you would like to see a face with the injury you can check out Becca's Story on youtube. Thanks guys for all your thoughts they have helped me so much!