ProNurse

By Laura Donnelly, Health Correspondent

Thousands of schoolgirls have suffered suspected adverse reactions to a cervical cancer jab introduced by the Government last year.

Reports by doctors indicate that girls of 12 and 13 have experienced convulsions, fever and paralysis after being given the vaccine.

Others suffered nausea, muscle weakness and dizziness, according to a report by drug safety watchdogs. The immunisation programme for teenage girls is controversial because it protects them from the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus which causes 70 per cent of cervical tumours.

More than one million girls have been given the jab, which is offered to all as they enter their teens. Ministers say that ultimately the scheme will save 700 lives a year.

Most of the more than 2,000 suspected reactions recorded by drug safety watchdog Medicines and Health care products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) were mild, with dozens of girls recording rashes, pain in the arm, and allergies.

But the report also discloses cases in which teenagers have suffered convulsions, eye rolling, muscle spasms, seizures and hyperventilation soon after being given the jab.

The analysis by the MHRA, drawn up this month, found that 2,107 patients had reported suspected adverse reactions to the vaccine Cervarix. Several reported multiple reactions, with 4,602 suspected side effects recorded in total. Jackie Fletcher, founder of Jabs, a support group for families whose children have fallen ill after immunisation, said: “We have spoken to parents whose daughters have had seizures, paralysis, blurred vision, severe headaches and the loss of feeling in parts of their body.”

Cancer charities urged parents to continue allowing their daughters to have the injection, saying the numbers were well within what would have been expected for a large-scale programme, and that most side effects were minor.

Stacey Jones is one of those who believes she has suffered side effects from the vaccine. Within four days of the third injection in March, Stacey suffered an epileptic seizure, followed by 17 more in the following week. She has been diagnosed with a brain injury, caused by inflammation of the brain, and is being treated in an NHS rehabilitation unit in Birmingham. Seizures are minimised by five types of medication, but her memory is badly damaged.

A spokesman for GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Cervarix, said the drug had to undergo rigorous testing, with over 70,000 doses used in trials before a licence was granted. He said: “The UK medicines safety agency has reviewed all reported adverse events relevant to Cervarix and there is no evidence to suggest that the vaccine carries any long-term side effects. The symptoms this girl has experienced are clearly upsetting and it is understandable that the girl and her parents want to uncover the cause.”

© 2009 Sunday Telegraph, The; London (UK). Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

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