Kells students seizures after hpv vaccine

 The parents of a young Kells girl who has developed serious health problems since she received the cervical cancer vaccine last Septemer have set up a support group to raise awareness of the problems that can arise.
Martin and Lorraine Colohan have set up Reactions and Effects of Gardasil Resulting in Extreme Trauma (REGRET) and following their first meeting 25 families across the country, whose daughters had been affected, had joined the support group.
These parents are convinced the HPV vaccine (Gardasil) is the cause of their daughters’ otherwise unexplained illnesses.
Martin Colohan explains that their daughter, Abbey, was fit and healthy when she started secondary school last September.  
“She was in school three weeks when she got the HPV vacine and went down like a sack of potatoes,” he said.
Mr Colohan said his daughter had a seizure after the vaccine and had had regular seizures since then.
“Many girls have had this vaccine and have had no problems, but we have been in contact with people whose daughters cannot attend school regularly, due to the debilitating health conditions they still suffer from.
“The primary goal of the parents in the group is to get help for their daughters,” he said.
“It is also important to raise awareness of the safety issues surrounding the HPV vaccine so that other parents can be in a position to make a truly informed decision on this issue.”
Among the symptoms Abbey developed since receiving the vacine are blurred vision, chest pain, leg pain and severe headaches as well as the seizures.
A spokesperson for the HSE said Gardasil is considered safe and well tolerated.
She said fainting has occurred after vaccination with Gardasil, especially in adolescents. A review of fainting after vaccination found that 89per cent occurred within 15 minutes of vaccination and that the adolescents recovered quickly.
“Like most vaccine severe allergic reactions are extremely rare,” she said. She said there is no evidence of long term effects of Gardasil.
 “The National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) an independent committee of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland makes recommendation on vaccination policy in Ireland.
“NIAC recommends that all females at 12-13 years of age should receive human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine as part of the national HPV vaccination programme.”
Gardasil is the HPV vaccine used in the national vaccination programme since 2010.  
She said all vaccines used by the HSE as part of the immunisation programme are licensed by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA)  www.hpra.ie and the European Medicines Agency www.ema.europa.eu/ema/   
All international regulatory authorities including those in the USA, Australia and the UK and the World Health Organization investigate vaccine side effects and they and the Irish regulators have stated that Gardasil has a good safety record.