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Gardasil Vaccine- The Facts
Sunday, July 6th, 2008 - For Immediate Release:
The Sunday Telegraph today released a story about the large number of Australian women and girls who are reporting serious reactions to the new Gardasil vaccine. (Cancer vaccine linked to illness in women, Sydney Sunday Telegraph, 06/07/08)
The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN), a national non-profit health lobby group which which has received approval from ADRAC (the Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee) to report vaccine reactions on behalf of individuals, is not surprised at the release of this information. Meryl Dorey, National President of the AVN, has said for the last 12 months that from the experience of the AVN, Gardasil is the most dangerous vaccine released to date. "We have received more reaction reports from Gardasil than from any other vaccine over the very short space of time since it was released.".
According to information obtained by Channel 7 under a Freedom of Information claim, 681 reactions to Gardasil were reported to ADRAC as of January 30, 2008. Of these reported reactions, more than one-third had not yet recovered. (Please see summary table below - full information available by contacting the AVN)
In the Telegraph article, Dr Jeremy McAnulty, NSW Health's director of communicable diseases, stated that none of the reported reactions were life-threatening. This statement contradicts the facts contained within the ADRAC report.
In the same article, Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has stated that all vaccines in Australia undergo stringent safety testing by experts. Unfortunately, according to our own TGA (the Therapeutic Goods Administration), vaccines are not tested in Australia for either safety or effectiveness and Gardasil is no exception. Gardasil's pre-licensure tests were performed overseas and were funded by the manufacturer of the drug. During this testing, 17 deaths were reported and a very large number of reactions (more than 90% of those tested reported at least one systemic reaction). Despite this, the vaccine was registered for use in Australia.
Below is a brief recap of some of the reactions contained within the ADRAC summary describing a range of potentially life-threatening reactions:
Guillaine-Barre Paralysis, Cranial Nerve Paralysis, Anaphylactic (severe, life-threatening allergic) reactions, Paralysis, Encephalitis, Haemorrhage, Deep-Vein Thrombosis and Arterial Thrombosis, reactions involving the heart such as tachycardia, chest pain and uncontrolled seizures.
"The Health Department has been playing fast and loose with people's lives," Ms Dorey continued. "They have not released this information to the public but have forced the filing of FOI claims in order to obtain it. They have ignored, downplayed and minimised the effect that this vaccine is having on Australian women and girls and, what's worse, there are government plans to bring this vaccine into the childhood vaccination schedule for both girls AND boys!"
The AVN believes that it is time to err on the side of caution when it comes to vaccination. Whilst Australian women and girls are reporting record numbers of reactions (and bear in mind that ADRAC admits that only between 1 and 10 percent of reactions ever actually get reported), we need to take a step back, stop using this vaccine until it's proven to be safe.
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About Australian Vaccination Network, Inc.
The AVN is a non-profit, volunteer-run charitable association. Since 1994, the AVN has provided information and support to the general community who are trying to make informed choices about vaccination and health. Their lobbying in Federal Parliament has ensured that compulsory vaccination for children has not come to pass and they are the major reporters of vaccine adverse reactions to ADRAC (The Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee).
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