With human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates far below
targets, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
is redoubling efforts to promote HPV vaccine as an ‘anti-cancer’
vaccine
Describing Gardasil or Cervarix, the two HPV vaccines, as
‘anti-cancer vaccines’ could be described as borderline
fraudulent as they’ve never been proven to prevent cancer
The HPV vaccine only contains two strains of HPV associated with
cancer, but there are about 15 of them known to potentially
cause cancer; in most cases HPV infection does not become
chronic or lead to cancer but rather naturally resolves on its
own within two years
Deadly blood clots, acute respiratory failure, cardiac arrest
and "sudden death due to unknown causes" have all occurred in
girls after they've received the Gardasil vaccine
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
By Dr. Mercola
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is
playing on Americans’ cancer fears by calling the human
papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine the first "anti-cancer" vaccine. This
comes on the heels of a statement by CDC director Tom Frieden that
“we’re dropping the ball” when it comes to HPV vaccination rates.
While US health officials (and vaccine makers) would like to see
an 80 percent vaccination rate among 11-12-year-old girls and boys,
the actual rate for receipt of one dose of HPV vaccine is hovering
at just over half of 13- to 17-year-old girls (and only 33 percent
if you include only those who have gotten all three of the
‘recommended’ doses).
Clearly, in calling the HPV vaccine an ‘anti-cancer vaccine,’ the
CDC is trying to inflate the vaccine’s value in the eyes of the
American parents, who so far have remained highly skeptical. There’s
only one problem: the HPV vaccine has not been proven to
prevent cancer.
Borderline Fraudulent to Call the HPV Vaccine an ‘Anti-Cancer’
Vaccine
To paint Gardasil or Cervarix, the two HPV vaccines, as vaccines
that prevent cancer is beyond stretching the truth and
could be described as borderline fraudulent. For those who are still
unaware, the HPV vaccine only contains two strains of HPV
associated with cancer (HPV-16 and HPV-18).
But there are MORE THAN 100 different strains of HPV in all, and
about 15 of them have been associated with development of
cancer IF HPV infection persists over a long period of time. In more
than 90 percent of all cases, however, the infection resolves on
its own within two years and does not lead to any health
complications.
Last year, research also revealed that the HPV vaccine reduced
HPV-16 infections by only 0.6% in vaccinated women vs. unvaccinated
women – and data showed other high-risk HPV infections were
diagnosed in vaccinated women 2.6% to 6.2% more frequently
than unvaccinated women.1
There are also suspicions that Gardasil
HPV vaccine might actually paradoxically increase your risk
of cervical cancer. This pre-licensure information came straight
from Merck and was presented to the US Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) prior to FDA approval.2
According to Merck's own research, if you have been exposed to
HPV-16 or -18 before you get a Gardasil shot, you
may increase your risk of precancerous lesions, or worse,
by 44.6 percent!
HPV Vaccine Effectiveness Is Overstated and Unproven
The real smoking gun, however, is a systematic review of pre- and
post-licensure trials of the HPV vaccine by a University of British
Columbia (UBC) research team.3
It showed that vaccine effectiveness is not only overstated (through
the use of selective reporting or "cherry picking" data) but also
irresponsibly and dangerously unproven.
The summary stated:
"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 odd 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.
Likewise, 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)."
79 Million Americans Have HPV… So What?
Health officials report statistics that about 79 million
Americans have the sexually transmitted HPV virus, and 14 million
are newly infected each year.4
At face value, this might make parents rush to get their children
vaccinated, but it sounds far more frightening than it actually is.
Gardasil is now recommended as a routine vaccination for young US
girls and women between the ages of 9-26, and even boys
between the ages of 11 and 21 are advised to get it for 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).
However, this is all highly questionable when you
consider the fact that most HPV infections do not lead to
cancer and, instead, clear up on their own within two years. There’s
no treatment necessary and often no health effects felt whatsoever
in 90 percent of HPV infection cases! Likewise, cervical cancer
accounts for less than ONE percent of all cancer deaths, while anal
cancer claims approximately 300 a year. So, this vaccine is
certainly not aimed at any major public health threat, no matter
which way you look at it.
Education and Pap Smear Testing Are Far More Important for
Preventing Cervical Cancer
Even though cervical cancer is very uncommon, it does
occur and it can be deadly. But it’s important to
understand that it is one of the most preventable and
treatable forms of cancer there is with interventions that are far
less risky and expensive than HPV vaccinations, which cost more than
$125 per dose in a doctor’s office.5
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. Furthermore, even if they get vaccinated, there are
still recommendations for girls and women to have pap screens every
few years to detect any 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, less
expensive 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 US since pap screening became a
routine part of women's health care in the 1960s, as it can detect
pre-cancerous cervical lesions early so they can be effectively
removed and treated.
Risk factors that increase your chances of developing chronic HPV
infection include smoking; co-infection with herpes, Chlamydia or
HIV; having multiple sex partners; compromised immunity; and long
term use of hormonal contraceptives. Most of these are modifiable
risk factors, and you can boost your immune system health to help
reduce your risk of contracting or having complications from
infections, by following my
nutrition
plan.
HPV Vaccine Is Associated with Death and Permanent Injuries
It is notoriously hard to receive compensation for vaccine
injuries, but as of March 20, 2013, the National Vaccine Injury
Compensation Program has awarded nearly $6 million to 49 victims for
harm resulting from the HPV vaccine.6
Two of the cases involved death due to the vaccine, and there are
many, many more reported injuries and deaths still in need of
investigation.
Health problems associated with the Gardasil vaccine include
immune-mediated inflammatory neurodegenerative disorders, suggesting
that something is causing the immune system to overreact in a
detrimental way—sometimes fatally. Last year, UBC research also
revealed that Gardasil may cause a type of inflammation in the brain
involving blood vessels (cerebral vasculitis) that can lead to
death.7
Between June 1, 2006 and December 31, 2008, there were
12,424 reported adverse events following Gardasil vaccination,
including 32 deaths. The girls, who were on average 18 years
old, died within two to 405 days after their last Gardasil
injection
Between May 2009 and September 2010, 16 additional deaths
after Gardasil vaccination were reported. For that timeframe,
there were also 789 reports of "serious" Gardasil adverse
reactions, including 213 cases of permanent disability and 25
diagnosed cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome
Between September 1, 2010 and September 15, 2011, another 26
deaths were reported following HPV vaccination
As of July 7, 2013, VAERS had received 30,320 reports of
adverse events following HPV vaccinations, including 138 reports
of death,8
as well as 935 reports of disability, and 557 life-threatening
adverse events
Deadly blood clots, acute respiratory failure, cardiac arrest and
"sudden death due to unknown causes" have all occurred in girls
after they've received the Gardasil vaccine. These are atrocious
risks when cervical cancer can be prevented with early detection of
pre-cancerous cervical changes through routine pap screens. And for
boys, these are profound risks to theoretically prevent the spread
of HPV to girls and potentially prevent 300 anal cancer deaths a
year…
The bottom line is that the HPV vaccine is largely ineffective,
potentially very dangerous, both for girls and boys, and a major
waste of money. Of course, you need to do your own careful research
to weigh the benefits and risks of HPV vaccination for yourself, but
I simply cannot recommend this vaccine for anyone.
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 the National Vaccine Information Center’s free
online 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.
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 should be treating people like human beings instead of
guinea pigs.
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.
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.