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What You Need to Know about Gardasil

The Gardasil vaccine is not a vaccine for protection against cervical cancer as the pharmaceutical company would like you to believe. It is a vaccine intended to prevent 4 types of HPV (Human Papillomavirus). According to the Gardasil package insert, there are more than 100 types of HPV! The American Cancer Institute reports HPV-16 (one of the strains the vaccine is intended to protect against) is found in approximately 50% of cervical cancer cases connected to HPV. Merck, the vaccine manufacturer, states approximately 70% of cases are connected to 2 of the 4 types of HPV the vaccine is intended to prevent.

In 90% of HPV cases, the virus is asymptomatic, will not cause disease, and goes away without treatment. Thus other factors are necessary to trigger precancerous lesions and/or cervical cancer. As an adult, if you have already been exposed to those types of HPV, which approximately 50% of people have, the vaccine is virtually useless. Thus the reason they are targeting young girls.

The vaccine has not been studied extensively and its long term effectiveness is unknown. In one study reported in the November 2002 New England Journal of Medicine, of the 1533 women left in the study (after ruling out the 859 who already had HPV and abnormal cervical issues), 41 in the placebo group developed HPV-16. Nine of these women went on to develop pre-cancerous lesions. However, 22 other women in the placebo group went on to develop pre-cancerous lesions not associated with the HPV strains in the vaccine.

By comparison, none of the women receiving the HPV vaccine contracted this specific strain of HPV-16, but another 22 women in the vaccinated group developed precancerous lesions! How does this prove the vaccine prevents cervical cancer?! It doesn’t. It simply shows it may prevent *some* cases of HPV. But this still leaves women vulnerable to cervical cancer! And 17 months is not enough time to determine if any of these women will then go on to develop cervical cancer later in life when it is most likely to occur.

According to Merck’s website, in further studies, the efficacy of the vaccine in 9-15 year old girls is “inferred” (based on antibody production), not proven. Historically, other vaccines have shown antibody production does not prove immunity. It further states on the website, vaccination with Gardasil may not result in protection in all vaccine recipients.

Not to mention, the vaccine offers no protection against AIDS, chlamydia, herpes, the 96+ other types of HPV, or any other sexually transmitted disease. Whether intentional or not, it fosters a false sense of security. Like with any vaccine, it carries the risk of damaging the immune system and other vaccine reactions.

It states right in the package insert if you are pregnant or planning to get pregnant, you should not receive this vaccine. How many little girls and young women are planning to get pregnant?!

The longevity of the vaccine has not been studied so it is unknown whether the alleged protection will last more than a few years or whether there are long term side effects. In addition to the normal vaccine reactions of swelling and itching, reactions include fever, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and severe allergic reaction. Fainting has been reported following the vaccine, as stated on the package insert, which is an uncommon reaction to most vaccines. Reports of reactions in the VAERS (National Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System) include seizures, fever, pain, and Guillain-Barre syndrome (a disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system causing paralysis and other dangerous symptoms).

The vaccine also includes aluminum, sodium chloride, L-histidine, polysorbate 80, water, and sodium borate – boric acid – (poison)! Boric acid, an insecticide and anti-fungal, is banned in the United States as a food additive. It is toxic to all cells. The negative effects of aluminum and other heavy metals are widely reported.

L-histidine is an essential amino acid which is a precursor to allergic reactions. It stimulates the inflammatory response of skin and mucous membranes (one possible cause of the allergic reactions reported). It is also responsible for forming metal bearing enzymes (such as the toxic metal storage protein metallothionein). Metals such as zinc, copper, and nickel are transported by binding to L-histidine and the binding is essential for excretion of excess heavy metals. Many parents of autistic children are quite familiar with Metallothionein and MT deficiency.

Anyone familiar with the principles of homeopathy and “like cures like” knows if you highly dilute and potentize something and apply it to a well person, it can cause symptoms and ill health. This is how they prove homeopathic remedies – by giving the remedy to healthy people and determining the symptoms it produces. This vaccine could theoretically be the perfect formula for creating allergy and autism in healthy children. One has to ask, are the pharmaceutical companies really that devious or just that stupid?!

The National Cancer Institute states cervical cancer in the United States is “extremely rare.” It estimates the lifetime risk for cervical cancer is 0.73% – that is less than 1 percent. Many would argue it would make a difference if you were part of that one percent. It is my opinion this vaccine is a bad idea, despite the fact I had pre-invasive cervical cancer at 23 – with no indication of HPV. This came three years after a disastrous MMR revax in college which brought on severe environmental allergies, reactions and allergies to almost all foods, exercise induced anaphylaxis, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue lasting for almost 20 years until dramatically improved with homeopathy.

The University of Maryland Medical Center reports several studies show a strong relationship between cervical cancer and extended use of oral contraceptives, genetics, smoking and second-hand smoke, harmful chemicals, unprotected sex with numerous partners, and having multiple children. The Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research also reports cigarette smoking increases the risk of precancerous changes and cervical cancer. Regular Pap smears are the best defense in early detection of precancerous cervical changes.

As with any vaccine, only the parent can decide what is in the best interest of their child. But they need all the facts to make this decision. We have to ask ourselves, does the benefit outweigh the risk? Hopefully, this article will prevent ‘one less’ parent from being misinformed by TV and magazine advertisements.