Gardasil Studies Look at Allergic Reactions, Moms’ Attitudes
Australian researchers are reporting that young women in that country who received Gardasil to prevent cervical cancer were five to 20 times more likely to suffer a rare and severe allergic reaction - anaphylaxis - versus other girls who received other vaccines in comparable school-based vaccination programs.
Anaphylaxis is a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction that can cause difficulty breathing, nausea, and rashes. Researchers at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead studied 114,000 young women vaccinated with Gardasil as part of a 2007 vaccination program in New South Wales. Of the girls vaccinated, 12 experienced suspected cases of anaphylaxis. Eight of the 12 experienced “an estimated rate of reaction of 2.6 per 100,000 doses administered” as compared with “a rate of 0.1 per 100,000 doses in a 2003 school-based meningitis vaccination program.”
Another Gardasil study - this one conducted at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston - has found that most moms who choose not to get their daughters vaccinated for HPV are not simply sexual prudes. Since Gardasil came on the market, opponents of vaccination are often portrayed as social conservatives whose biggest concern is that girls will become sexually active too soon if they receive it. But according to this new research, mothers’ objections mostly center around the safety and effectiveness of Gardasil.
The study, published in the September Journal of Adolescent Health, surveyed about 150 mothers at a UTMB pediatric clinic in 2007. The study found that mothers who wanted their daughters to remain virgins until marriage were just as likely to have them get Gardasil as those who didn’t expect their daughters to wait until marriage to have sex.
The study’s lead author, Susan Rosenthal, a UTMB pediatric psychologist, said that “Mothers who haven’t had their daughter vaccinated yet most often said they want more time to learn about the vaccine.”