NPR story- "HPV Vaccine MOSTLY Safe"

[LeslieB]

HPV Vaccine Mostly Safe.

Oh this story really irked me. : But of course, all vaccine-related stories on NPR irk me.
I've linked the transcript above, but here's an exerpt.

WILSON: The Food and Drug Administration and the CDC are investigating two deaths which did seem unusual. They were caused by a neurologic condition similar to Lou Gehrig's disease that doesn't normally kill people in their teens and 20s. And Slade says they were concerned that there appeared to be an increased number of deaths related to blood clots.

Dr. SLADE: All of these people had a known risk factor for having blood clots. Most commonly was that they were on some sort of estrogen birth control. But obesity, traveling, immobility and some of these people had genetic risk factors for getting - for having blood clots, as well.

......


WILSON: The most serious side effect linked to the vaccine was fainting. To put things into perspective, Dr. Halsey reminds us that people of all ages have health problems and all people die, even young people the age of those who got the vaccine.

[mysticmomma]

Yeah, I just read a story (can't find link) that said the vaccine was safe, but merck's advertising was out of line. That's it... the advertising is bad.

[mamaofthree]

WILSON: The most serious side effect linked to the vaccine was fainting. To put things into perspective, Dr. Halsey reminds us that people of all ages have health problems and all people die, even young people the age of those who got the vaccine.

ok so this is irritating... you can say that about anything, even not getting the vaccine. everyone dies, even young people... so don't vaccinate. or so everyone dies so do vaccinate. the thing is, they want all this stuff across the board, no looking into if a person has a family history of issues that the vaccine myay make worse, it is just do it to everyone and then if people die, oh well. grrr!

h

[LeslieB]

The fainting comment really got to me. Back in 2000, before I knew better, I went in to get HepB and Td vaxes. Within seconds of being injected, I nearly blacked out. The physician had to catch me from hitting the ground, and I will never forget the look of shock and fear in her face. I was in perfect health at the time. Very fit and rarely sick. It was the vaccines; the physician even admitted that. Why can't these people admit that vaccines harm people instead of trying to blame the victims or using the "people just die" approach?!!!

[NoraB]

I hate that fainting is treated as a non issue. Shouldn't that be a cause for investigation? Seems to me that fainting after a vax could indicate a neuro rxn or even if it's a blood pressure issue. Could be an indicator that something very serious is happening to the body. I think the possible effects of this will continue to go uninvestigated b/c then the FDA and Merck can continue to say "there's no evidence that Garasil causes harm..." Well, of course there's no evidence if you don't look for any. Grrrr. When did we begin to operate on the prinicple that a new substance should be proven harmful before we stop using it rather than proving it safe before we use it? Guess that went out the window w/ vax period.

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by NoraB

I hate that fainting is treated as a non issue. Shouldn't that be a cause for investigation? Seems to me that fainting after a vax could indicate a neuro rxn or even if it's a blood pressure issue. Could be an indicator that something very serious is happening to the body. I think the possible effects of this will continue to go uninvestigated b/c then the FDA and Merck can continue to say "there's no evidence that Garasil causes harm..." [B]Well, of course there's no evidence if you don't look for any. Grrrr. When did we begin to operate on the prinicple that a new substance should be proven harmful before we stop using it rather than proving it safe before we use it? Guess that went out the window w/ vax period[/B].

Amen!

[13Sandals]

yes, and Dr. Slade (from the CDC) figured the adverse side effect rate using 23 million doses. This was the number of doses distributed by Merck..however, it has been pointed out by one of the Gardasil researchers no less, Dr. Diane Harper, that over 1/3 of those distributed vials are likely sitting in a warehouse for the start of school...and, since its a 3 dose-series - far less than 23 million people are involved
link here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/...n5253431.shtml

Should the denominator in Dr. Slade's work be adjusted to account for this, and then divided by three for the number of women who would receive all three doses, the incidence rate of serious adverse events increases up to five fold. How does a parent value that information," said Harper.

at least CBS picked this up. I couldn't find it anywhere else.

[Minarai]

Originally Posted by LeslieB

The fainting comment really got to me. Back in 2000, before I knew better, I went in to get HepB and Td vaxes. Within seconds of being injected, I nearly blacked out. The physician had to catch me from hitting the ground, and I will never forget the look of shock and fear in her face. I was in perfect health at the time. Very fit and rarely sick. It was the vaccines; the physician even admitted that. Why can't these people admit that vaccines harm people instead of trying to blame the victims or using the "people just die" approach?!!!

Easy: they don't want to damage their or the drug company's reputation and lose money!

[denimtiger]

As horrible a thought as this is, because I wouldn't wish vaccine tragedy on anyone, I almost appreciate the ludicrous way this whole Gardasil thing is being handled.

I read a story in our local paper yesterday about how it is becoming known that there are serious neurological events related to Gardasil, but they're not really different from the rates seen with other vaccines. However, the story actually did pose the question of whether ANY level of risk was acceptable for a vaccine given to healthy people to prevent an illness that is nearly 100% preventable/treatable without the vaccine.

The thing is, eventually this Gardasil issue is going to explode. These events are not happening to babies who can be written off as SIDS or weird birth defects. People are going to question watching a known HEALTHY adolescent deteriorate like that. And that is going to lead to people questioning vaccines period.

Honestly, the Gardasil fiasco could end up being the "best" thing that ever happened to the vaccine-free/vaccine-safety movement. I just wish that it didn't come at the expense of innocents.

[limette]

I almost blacked out after a flu vaccine as a teenager. I was the mall about an hour after getting it and my ears started ringing and everything want black, I thought I was going to puke. I sat down and it cleared up pretty quickly but I never accepted another vaccination since.

[Turquesa]

I've long since given up on expecting NPR to provide reliable, even-handed coverage on vaccines. I have not once heard a story that involved interviewing a vaccine critic (maybe an emotive parent or two, but never a physician or immunologist) to hear their side of the story. I just invariably hear apologists dismissing any possible flaws of the Almighty Vaxes. I'm just waiting to hear, "This story brought to you by Merck..."

As another example, NPR recently did a swine flu vax story that started by saying that obstetricians were reluctant to give it to pregnant women, even though that's the big target population. But rather than interviewing (much less naming) any one of these "reluctant obstetricians," they spun the story into a matter of "how will these ignoramus docs be convinced?"