There is a lot to be said about the HPV vaccination. You hear the creepiest stories about girls I don't know what contracted after they got this vaccine against cervical cancer. Two weeks ago Anne also wrote about the HPV virus. What that virus is, and how it is diagnosed and treated. She also carries the HPV virus herself. In fact… considerable deviations were observed. All in all an exciting story.
There is always a lot to do about whether or not to vaccinate. You have strong proponents and strong opponents of vaccination in general. All with their own reasons, including when it comes to the HPV vaccination.
Marjolijn, for example, wrote her argument about vaccination a few months ago, and the reactions are not in the air. Pros and cons… it seems that 'people' are really coming loose when it comes to vaccination. Now it was about the 'standard vaccinations' that are indicated via the National Vaccination Program and not about this HPV vaccination, but still, it remains a fierce subject.
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And I have to tell you… until now I've never been so concerned with it. I am one of those sheep that neatly follows the herd when it comes to these kinds of things. Not with everything, but vaccinations are not recommended for nothing, I think. So let's get vaccinated.
However, over the years I have become a little less 'assuming'. For example, I am not absolutely convinced that milk is good for you. I secretly suspect the Dutch economy that drinking milk is promoted in this way, because we have so many cows and farmers in the Netherlands. Suppose they were all suddenly without a job! And bread? I think so too, but that's not the point. We are now talking about the HPV vaccination and I am thinking of my own daughter.
Fortunately my girl is 'only' 8 and I still have some time before this starts to play out with her, but given all the media attention surrounding hpv vaccinations, this keeps me quite busy. If I had to choose whether or not to have her vaccinated, I don't think I would do it yet. But determined purely from my gut feeling.
For example, Anne pointed me to the Facebook message below, which shows that there are a lot of complaints in girls who have had the HPV vaccination.
https://www.facebook.com/bianca.vandersteen.7/posts/1401398233227809?comment_id=1403156843051948&reply_comment_id=1403530356347930
Proponents of the HPV vaccination against cervical cancer indicate that it has not yet been proven that these complaints are really caused by the HPV vaccine, but if you search the internet further, you will read many more stories.
Besides the fact that these stories are doing the rounds, there are also people who ask for advice from their gynecologist or who have asked the GGD. But opinions differ there too. One advises to do it and the other strongly advises against it. And those are the professionals. You can read this, for example, in this article about a study into the HPV vaccination. More than 9000 respondents are questioned here, as well as doctors. 75% of doctors indicate that they do recommend the HPV vaccination, 8% advise not to vaccinate and 16% do not advise. The last one in particular worries me. These are clearly doctors who also have their doubts.
I also looked for the package insert of the drug Cervarix to see what that indicates in terms of side effects. Side effects that occurred during the clinical studies with Cervarix are the following:
Very common (side effects occurring with more than 1 in 10 doses of vaccine):
Common (side effects occurring with less than 1 in 10 vaccine doses, but more than 1 in 100 vaccines):
Uncommon (side effects that affect less than 1 in 100 but more than 1 in 1,000
vaccines):
Side effects that have been reported with Cervarix use are: allergic reactions. These can be recognized by:
These reactions will generally develop before leaving the treatment room.
However, if your child develops any of these symptoms you should contact a doctor as soon as possible:
Personally, quite a few of the side effects listed here put me off. In addition, I also recognize the side effects in the stories I have read and the videos on Facebook or the Danish Documentary I have seen about this. Only then they no longer seem to be temporary.
At the moment, no link has been established between this HPV vaccine and the fatigue symptoms that the vaccinated girls have to deal with. These fatigue complaints are said to occur equally often in vaccinated and unvaccinated girls. You would say that should be enough to remove the doubts.
Nevertheless, the Japanese government decided last year, for example, to no longer recommend the vaccine against HPV. In addition, a documentary was made in Denmark about girls who had the HPV vaccination and became quite ill from it. A radical documentary with English subtitles. It was featured below but has since been removed from YouTube. Why? No idea.
As it looks now, I think that deciding on my feelings is the only option. Too little is known about the consequences of this HPV vaccination to make an informed decision. I think. For me, deciding on feeling at the moment means that doubt dominates. That's why I'm glad I still have 4 years to see where the discussion goes. Do you want more information? Take a look at the site of the National Vaccination Programs.
