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Alert over jab for girls as two die following cervical cancer vaccination
Last updated at 18:07pm on 25.01.08A jab that could be given to hundreds of thousands of schoolgirls this autumn was at the centre at a safety scare last night following the deaths of two young women.
European regulators are investigating the "sudden and unexpected" deaths of the women who received Gardasil, one of two jabs to protect against cervical cancer licensed for use in the UK.
The vaccine has been hailed as a breakthrough by the Department of Health, which is backing an annual programme of vaccination for girls aged 11 to 13 years starting in September.
The jab is already available privately and a thirteen-year-old girl from London became the first in the country to receive the cervical cancer vaccine in 2006. Hollie Anderson's mother, Lisa, paid £450 for her to have the jab after seeing her own mother battle against cancer.
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Hollie Anderson from London had the cervical cancer jab aged 13
The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) said one of the young women who received Gardasil died in Germany while the other was in Austria. It has not released their ages.
It follows the deaths of three young women aged 12, 19 and 22 who were reported to have died in the U.S. days after Gardasil was administered, with 1,700 patients suffering "adverse reactions". There were no previous recorded deaths in Europe.
The EMEA said: "In both cases, the cause of death could not be identified.
"No causal relationship has been established between the deaths of the young women and the administration of Gardasil."
A spokesman said 1.5million people had been given the vaccine in Europe.
She said there were no plans to change advice on the use of the vaccine.
The UK vaccination programme will protect girls against the sexually-transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes cervical cancer.
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Investigations have begun after two young women died suddenly after receiving Gardasil
It should help cut up to 1,000 deaths a year from the disease.
Gardasil, made by Merck, is one of the jabs to be used initially. The other is Cervarix, made by Glaxo-SmithKline.
Dr Nicholas Kitchin, medical director at Sanofi Pasteur MSD, which markets Gardasil, said: "The authorities in the two countries have looked intensively at these two cases and have not established a causal link, and this has been endorsed by the EMEA.
"The fact that the EMEA is not taking any action on the back of this should be seen as reassuring that the product remains safe."
Reader views (4)
Let me ask, would you say this was scare-mongering if it was your sister or your young daughter who died from a vaccine that does not even guarantee the slightest protection against cancer, but only gives some protection against some strains of the HPV virus said to be a cause of this cancer. Consider the figures given by the NHS. in 2007, 756 women died of cervical cancer. Of that number the majority were over 75, and only 6% were under 35--that is about 45 women who died in 12 months were under 35. This figure is 70% lower than thirty years ago, a fact attributable to cancer screening programmes. If girls think they are immune to cervical cancer they may not go for regular screening and it is possible that the rates could actually go up!
- Geoff, stowmarket UK
I think we need more information before we can form an opinion on this. For instance, how many people have had the jab without any problems? Every medicine will have side effects for some people. The trick is to find the ones that work fine for most people and, if possible, to identify those for whom it won't work (eg not giving vaccines grown on egg to people who are known to have an allergy to egg).
- Suzanne, London
There have been two deaths, the cause of which hasn't yet been determined for either case so there is no way the jab could be blamed at this stage.
Additionally millions of these jabs have been given - if there was a flaw then young girls would be dropping like flies left right and centre.
This is scaremongering, pure and simple, the same as what happened with MMR. Thousands of kids suffered due to the drop in MMR - the deaths of how many girls do we want on our hands from cervical cancer this time?
- Steve, London
Several months ago I posted on this issue. When this vaccine first came out in the US, American parents rushed to get their daughters this vaccine (being lured by advertising). There have been over 3000 documented side effects in the US including death and heart damage. No vaccine should be pushed for the general population without years of documentation from high risk individuals who have voluntarily submitted to the vaccine.
- K. Tyson, Mobile, AL USA
