[back] Ceravix

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."