By Dr. Mercola
A new report published in the Journal of the National Cancer
Institute highlights increasing rates of human papillomavirus
(HPV)-related cancers, and uses this as a platform to peddle
“efforts to increase vaccination coverage.”1
The report, which notes increased rates for two
HPV-associated cancers (oropharynx (throat) and anus), points
out that 32 percent of girls aged 13 to 17 received all three
doses of the HPV vaccine Gardasil or Cervarix in 2010.
This suggested that these “low” vaccination rates may be in
part responsible for the rise in HPV-associated cancers. Yet, to
paint Gardasil as a vaccine that prevents cancer is
beyond stretching the truth and borderline fraudulent.
The HPV Vaccine has NOT Been Proven to Prevent Cancer
A systematic review of pre- and post-licensure trials of the
HPV vaccine by a Canadian team shows that its effectiveness is
not only overstated (through the use of selective reporting or
"cherry picking" data) but also completely unproven.
The summary states it quite clearly:2
"We carried out a systematic review of HPV vaccine
pre- and post-licensure trials to assess the evidence of
their effectiveness and safety. We find that HPV vaccine
clinical trials design, and data interpretation of both
efficacy and safety outcomes, were largely inadequate.
Additionally, we note evidence of
selective reporting of results from clinical trials
(i.e., exclusion of vaccine efficacy figures related to
study subgroups in which efficacy might be lower or even
negative from peer-reviewed publications).
Given this, the widespread optimism regarding HPV
vaccines long-term benefits appears to rest on a number of
unproven assumptions (or such which are at odds with factual
evidence) and significant misinterpretation of available
data.
For example, the claim that HPV
vaccination will result in approximately 70% reduction of
cervical cancers is made despite the fact that the clinical
trials data have not demonstrated to date that the vaccines
have actually prevented a single case of cervical cancer
(let alone cervical cancer death), nor that the current
overly optimistic surrogate marker-based extrapolations are
justified.
We thus conclude that further reduction of cervical
cancers might be best achieved by optimizing cervical
screening (which carries no such risks) and targeting other
factors of the disease rather than by the reliance on
vaccines with questionable efficacy and safety profiles."
Does Gardasil Really Prevent Anal Cancer?
Gardasil, which was licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) in 2006, is now recommended as a routine
vaccination for young girls and women between the ages of 9-26
in the United States. In October 2011, the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on
Immunization Practices also voted to recommend giving the HPV
vaccine to males between the ages of 11 and 21 (there is also a
second HPV vaccine on the market, Cervarix, licensed in 2009 but
Gardasil continues to generate the majority of U.S. HPV vaccine
sales).
Gardasil is promoted for boys allegedly to offer partial
protection against genital warts and cancers of the penis and
rectum, and to reduce transmission of HPV to girls, thereby
preventing cervical cancer deaths (which is highly questionable,
as noted above).
As far as anal cancer goes, there were about 6,230 new cases
(3,980 in women and 2,250 in men) in 2012, along with about 780
deaths (480 in women and 300 in men).3
Gardasil is claimed to be 75 percent effective against anal
cancer in men, so crunch the numbers... This is simply
irrational behavior motivated by pure greed.
They actually want to place millions
of people at risk with this risky vaccine in order to reduce
anal cancer deaths that claim 300 men per year? That's
incredible! Likewise, cervical cancer accounts for less than
ONE percent of all cancer deaths. And even these statistics
conceal the fact that conventional treatment with chemotherapy,
surgery and radiation is itself a major, though unreported,
contributing cause of deaths attributed to the anal and cervical
cancer per se. So, this vaccine is certainly not aimed at any
major health threat, no matter which way you look at it.
But it gets worse. As explained by medical investigative
journalist Jeanne Lenzer:4
"First off, let's define the problem: The annual
number of deaths from anal-rectal cancer among all men in
the U.S. is 300. And how did Merck get its happy statistics
on efficacy?
Once again, they reported an idealized benefit by
excluding from analysis 1,250 study violators out of 4,055
total test subjects. When the real-world analysis was
conducted, the numbers plunged—right down to plum nothing.
After evaluating tissue changes in male genitalia that were
suggestive of a cancer precursor, Merck reported that
vaccine efficacy against such lesions 'was not observed.'"
Research published last year also revealed that the HPV
vaccine reduced HPV-16 infections by only 0.6% in vaccinated
women vs. unvaccinated women – and data that showed other
high-risk HPV infections were diagnosed in vaccinated women 2.6%
to 6.2% more frequently than unvaccinated women.5
This alarming data supports previous suspicions that Gardasil
HPV vaccine might actually increase your risk of
cervical cancer. The information came straight from Merck
and was presented to the FDA prior to approval.6
According to Merck's own research, if you have been exposed to
HPV strains 16 or 18 prior to injection and take Gardasil
vaccine, you may increase your risk of precancerous
lesions, or worse, by 44.6 percent!
Is the HPV Vaccine “Already” Providing Herd Immunity?
In a study looking at prevalence rates of HPV in young women
before and after HPV vaccine, it was found that the four strains
targeted by the vaccine, which are the ones most commonly
associated with cervical cancer, went down significantly. They
also found that rates of these HPV strains also dropped in women
who had NOT been vaccinated, which they suggested was evidence
of “herd immunity.”
Now, Gardasil has accomplished this “amazing feat” in just
six years―long before mass use of most vaccines begin to show
any sign of what's known as herd immunity. It is typically
taught that the vaccine-acquired herd immunity threshold is
anywhere between 80-95 percent of the population, depending on
the disease. So, HOW could the HPV vaccine confer herd immunity
when, on a nationwide basis, less than half of teens
and young women have received the vaccine (and the vast majority
of those have only received one-third of the recommended number
of doses)?
For the HPV vaccine to suddenly confer herd immunity at less
than 50 percent coverage is simply impossible by the very
definition of herd immunity.
This "study" is nothing but marketing masquerading as
science. And it’s also not highlighted that at least five
individuals on the seven-member team making these over-the-top
claims are paid speakers and consultants for Merck, or have
received research funds from Merck to develop this
vaccine―meaning this wasn't exactly an independent, outside
group with no conflicting interests in the outcome. Please also
note that the president of the Merck Vaccine Division, Julie
Gerberding, who you may remember as the former head of the CDC,
the federal agency responsible for public health vaccine
recommendations.
Not to mention, this study also found that rates of infection
with HPV strains not included in the vaccine are on the rise,
which may be a direct result of the vaccination itself. Ars
Technica reported:7
“The authors suggest this may be evidence that a
concern voiced by some researchers may be playing out: the
different strains of HPV compete with each other to some
extent and, with the vaccine eliminating some of them, the
remainder are spreading more efficiently.”
Finally, what is also being overlooked is the fact that in
more than 90 percent of cases, your immune system can clear
up an HPV infection within two years on its own.
So perhaps the dropping HPV rates noted among unvaccinated women
has nothing to do with vaccine-induced herd immunity and
everything to do with the power of their own immune systems ...
Do You Know the Serious Risks Associated with HPV Vaccines?
As of mid-2012, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System
(VAERS) has received 119 reports of death following HPV
vaccination,8
as well as:
- 894 reports of disability
- 517 life-threatening adverse events
- 9,889 emergency room visits
- 2,781 hospitalizations
Ever since Gardasil vaccine was licensed in 2006, reports of
serious adverse events have included autoimmune and neurological
disorders sometimes involving clinical symptoms similar to
cerebral vasculitis, an often-fatal condition in which blood
vessels in the spinal cord and brain become acutely and
chronically inflamed.
According to one study, many of the symptoms reported to
vaccine safety surveillance databases following Gardasil shots
are associated with cerebral vasculitis and, in some cases,
cerebral vasculitis may well be triggered by Gardasil vaccine,9
even though public health agencies are still maintaining that
the vaccine is safe! Canadian researchers have further stated:10
“...the notion that HPV vaccines have an
impressive safety profile is only supported by highly flawed
design of safety trials and is contrary to accumulating
evidence from vaccine safety surveillance databases and case
reports which continue to link HPV vaccination to serious
adverse outcomes (including death and permanent
disabilities.”
How to Talk to Your Kids About HPV...
If you are a parent, it is important to educate your
pre-teens and teenagers so they know that the risks of getting
or transmitting HPV infection can be greatly reduced by choosing
abstinence or use of condoms. Even if they get vaccinated, it is
essential that girls and women know they must be screened every
few years for cervical changes that may indicate pre-cancerous
lesions because there is little guarantee that either Gardasil
or Cervarix will prevent HPV infection or cervical and other
cancers.
Routine pap smear testing is a far more rational and less
dangerous strategy for cervical cancer prevention,as it can
identify chronic HPV infection and may provide greater
protection against development of cervical cancer than reliance
on HPV vaccinations. Cervical cancer cases have dropped more
than 70 percent in the United States since pap screenings became
a routine part of women's health care in the 1960s, as it can
detect pre-cancerous lesions early so they can be effectively
removed and treated.
Your Right to Informed Consent is Under Attack
I cannot stress enough how critical it is to get involved and
stand up for your fundamental human right to exercise informed
consent to medical risk-taking and your legal right to obtain
non-medical vaccine exemptions. This does not mean you have to
opt out of all vaccinations if you decide that you want to give
one or more vaccines to your child. The point is, everyone
should have the right to evaluate the potential benefits and
real risks of pharmaceutical products, including vaccines, and
opt out of getting any vaccine or drug they decide is
unnecessary or not in the best interest of their child's health.
While it seems "old-fashioned," the only truly effective
actions you can take to protect the right to informed consent to
vaccination and legally obtain vaccine exemptions is to get
personally involved with your state legislators and the leaders
in your community. Vaccine use recommendations are made at the
federal level but vaccine laws are made at the state level, and
it is at the state level where your action to protect your
vaccine choices can have the greatest impact.
Signing up for NVIC's free Advocacy Portal at
www.NVICAdvocacy.org not only gives you immediate, easy
access to your state legislators so you can become an effective
vaccine choice advocate in your own community, but when state
and national vaccine issues come up, you will have the
up-to-date information and call to action items you need at your
fingertips to make sure your voice is heard.
So please, as your first step,
sign up for the NVIC Advocacy Portal.
Contact Your Elected Officials
Write or email your elected state representatives and share
your concerns. Call them, or better yet, make an appointment to
visit them in person in their office. Don't let them forget you!
It is so important for you to reach out and make sure your
concerns get on the radar screen of the leaders and opinion
makers in your community, especially the politicians you elect
and are directly involved in making vaccine laws in your state.
These are your elected representatives, so you have a right and
a responsibility to let them know what's really
happening in your life and the lives of people you know when it
comes to vaccine mandates. Be sure to share the "real life"
experiences that you or people you know have had with
vaccination.
Share Your Story with the Media and People You Know
If you or a family member has suffered a serious vaccine
reaction, injury or death, please talk about it. If we don't
share information and experiences with each other, everybody
feels alone and afraid to speak up. Write a letter to the editor
if you have a different perspective on a vaccine story that
appears in your local newspaper. Make a call in to a radio talk
show that is only presenting one side of the vaccine story.
I must be frank with you; you have to be brave because you
might be strongly criticized for daring to talk about the "other
side" of the vaccine story. Be prepared for it and have the
courage to not back down. Only by sharing our perspective and
what we know to be true about vaccination will the public
conversation about vaccination open up so people are not afraid
to talk about it.
We cannot allow the drug companies and medical trade
associations funded by drug companies to dominate the
conversation about vaccination. The vaccine injured cannot be
swept under the carpet and treated like nothing more than
"statistically acceptable collateral damage" of national
one-size-fits-all mass vaccination policies that put way too
many people at risk for injury and death. We shouldn't be
treating people like guinea pigs instead of human beings.
Internet Resources Where You Can Learn More
I encourage you to visit the following web pages on the
National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) website at
www.NVIC.org:
-
NVIC Memorial for Vaccine Victims:
View descriptions and photos of children and adults, who
have suffered vaccine reactions, injuries and deaths. If you
or your child experiences an adverse vaccine event, please
consider posting and sharing your story here.
-
If You Vaccinate, Ask 8 Questions:
Learn how to recognize vaccine reaction symptoms and prevent
vaccine injuries.
-
Vaccine Freedom Wall:
View or post descriptions of harassment by doctors,
employers or school officials for making independent vaccine
choices.
Connect with Your Doctor or Find a New One Who Will Listen and
Care
If your pediatrician or doctor refuses to provide medical
care to you or your child unless you agree to get vaccines you
don't want, I strongly encourage you to have the courage to
find another doctor. Harassment, intimidation, and refusal
of medical care is becoming the modus operandi of the medical
establishment in an effort to stop the change in attitude of
many parents about vaccinations after they become truly educated
about health and vaccination.
However, there is hope.
At least 15 percent of young doctors recently polled admit
that they're starting to adopt a more individualized approach to
vaccinations in direct response to the vaccine safety concerns
of parents. It is good news that there is a growing number of
smart young doctors, who prefer to work as partners with parents
in making personalized vaccine decisions for children, including
delaying vaccinations or giving children fewer vaccines on the
same day or continuing to provide medical care for those
families, who decline use of one or more vaccines.
So take the time to locate a doctor, who treats you with
compassion and respect and is willing to work with you to do
what is right for your child.
© Copyright 1997-2013 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.