Vaccine 'gives girl side effects'

Hattie Vickery said she had suffered several problems since the injections

22 April 2009

The family of a Devon girl say they are take to legal action against the makers of a cervical cancer drug because they claim she has had serious side-effects.

Hattie Vickery, from Honiton, was given Cervarix, made by GlaxoSmithKline.

The 13-year-old said she suffered pain and swelling, problems moving an arm, nausea and other symptoms.

The Department of Health said there was no evidence to suggest Cervarix caused them and GlaxoSmithKline said it had openly listed possible side-effects.

Trials 'scrutinised'

The vaccine is being given to 12 and 13-year-olds in the UK, and protects against two strains of human papillomavirus (HPV).

Hattie Vickery received two injections, one in October and January, at school as part of a government programme. The complete vaccination course is three injections.

She said she had suffered painful and unexplained health problems since.

She said: "I've had pain and swelling around the arm, been feeling ill, nausea and feeling tired."

Her mother, Sophie Vickery, said: "You think you're doing your best by letting your children have this immunisation and then this happens."

The Department of Health's director of immunisation, David Salisbury said the vaccine was properly tested in a large-scale clinical trials.

He said: "The result was scrutinised by European regulators and it was given a clean bill of health.

GlaxoSmithKline said that Cervarix could cause side effects, but that in the majority of cases these were listed in the product information