The Scottish Sun
There ARE side-effects that we’re NOT being told about
http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/2669541/Parents-fears-on-controversial-cervical-cancer-jab.html
Published: 06 Oct 2009
MUMS are fighting back over the controversial cervical cancer jab being dished
out to young Scots schoolgirls.
There are increasing concerns over the drug following the death of
14-year-old Natalie Morton last week just an HOUR after receiving the HPV (Human
Papilloma Virus) vaccine Cervarix.
A post mortem revealed her death was down to an underlying medical condition - a
malignant tumour of the chest.
But yesterday we told how 18-year-old Stacey Jones suffered brain damage just
days after receiving the jab, with her family fearing the vaccine may have been
the cause.
Feature writer SHELLEY MATHESON spoke to two concerned mums who have said 'no'
to immunisation...
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WORRIED mum Kirstene Glynn was appalled when she began researching the HPV
vaccine Cervarix.
The 33-year-old, from Musselburgh, East Lothian, was already wary of letting
eldest daughter Hayley, 15, receive the new cancer drug.
Kirstene, who works as a carer, was concerned that not enough was known about
the possible side effects.
She spent hours trawling the internet conducting her own research and was so
horrified by what she found, she begged Hayley not to be immunised.
Kirstene said: "Hayley was meant to have the jag two weeks ago but she never got
it.
"This was because of all the adverse side-effects we're NOT being told about by
the Government, ones I'm having to find out about on the internet.
"Hayley's 15-and-a-half and she's old enough to make that decision.
"She had a look at the evidence for herself and was upset by the things she
found.
"She made her own decision, she just turned round and said 'Nope'.
"But I've now read that girls as young as 12 can have the final say, even if
their parents don't want them to have the jab.
"A 12-year-old is not mature enough to make that sort of decision."
The caring mum has never prevented any of her daughters from receiving
immunisations before.
She said: "I feel the benefits of being immunised against measles, mumps and
rubella do outweigh the risks."
But following the cases of Natalie Morton and Stacey Jones, she is more
convinced than ever that none of her daughters will ever receive the vaccine.
Kirstene and husband Chris, 32, came up against some opposition from her
daughter's school.
She added: "I got a phone call from the nurse who was doing it at the school and
I had more information than she did.
"She couldn't really fight her argument because everything she said to me, I
just fought back."
Kirstene admits her biggest concern is the lack of information available on the
effects the vaccine can have on girls with underlying medical conditions.
And she's outraged the fact the drug contains aluminium, which can be damaging
to the body's cells, has been ignored by focusing on the jab's lack of mercury.
The mum-of-three added: "Girls can be born with cervical cancer cells - it's a
virus that can actually be passed onto you. You don't have to be sexually
active.
"It tends to be that a lot of girls have underlying conditions, which can be
diabetes or anything really, and it affects their immune system."
Kirstene is worried what the effects of the relatively unknown drug will have on
teens in later life.
She blasted: "They don't know how long it is going to last. It's not a lifetime
jag.
"Cervarix is a not a cure for cervical cancer.
"We do not know what the consequences are going to be in 20 years' time because
they have only done trials for the past four or five years.
"Will your daughter be left infertile?"
It's our decision'
Carer Louise Breasley was prepared to let her only child have the notorious
vaccine until workmate Kirstene told her about the shocking information she had
uncovered on the internet.
Within minutes of reading about the side effects of the jab, the 33-year-old put
her foot down.
Daughter Claire, 14, still wanted to go ahead with the vaccination so as not to
be the odd one out at school in Musselburgh - but was soon convinced when her
worried mum passed on Kirstene's research.
Louise said: "After reading the information I got from the school I was quite
happy to go ahead with it until I started looking into a bit more.
"It was Kirstene who made me aware and I just got put off straight away with the
things I found."
But Louise was furious when Claire came home from school and told her a teacher
had called her stupid for not having it.
She blasted: "One teacher told her that she was silly for not getting it because
all girls her age get it. I was shocked, it is our decision to make."
The concerned mum believes the information given out by the Government has been
lax and the girls are being used as guinea pigs.
She hit out: "They don't know how long it is going to last for. We don't know
enough about it."