by Grace Alexander

Created on: May 25, 2010

NBC’s lead story on the night of May 24, 2010, revealed that HPV vaccine Gardisil may be dangerous to some girls.

18 year old Ainsley Bailey had always been healthy, but the day after her first dose of Gardisil, she had nausea, abdominal pain, muscle pain and fatigue. Her mother said, “I had a healthy daughter - the very next day, she started reacting.”

Another parent, John Flood, recounted how his daughter had extreme full body swelling, heart palpitations, and unusual blood clotting - right after her second dose of Gardisil. This teen was a long distance runner, who prior to receiving the HPV vaccine could run 8-10 miles without effort.

Of course, there is no way to prove these cases and dozens of others are related to the vaccine. Over 28 million doses of Gardisil have been distributed in the US, and pediatricians have started pushing the drug at parents of middle-schoolers.

“I told the doctor I didn’t think it was safe yet,” says Sarah Pendleton of Texas. “How do they know what the side effects can be 20 or 30 years down the road, when she wants to get pregnant, or later still when she hits menopause? She was barely nine years old when he started pushing me to have her vaccinated for HVP. I can’t choose to make that decision about my daughter’s body, not yet, not with the very vague information we have on this drug and its long term effects right now.”

Texas Governor Rick Perry attempted an executive order to force schoolgirls to get the vaccine The Governor received heavy donations from Merck during his campaign, and many felt the media blitz recommending Gardisil was payback for the pharmaceutical giant's support. CBS News followed the controversy closely at the time, reporting that:

"Beginning in September 2008, girls entering the sixth grade — meaning, generally, girls ages 11 and 12 — will have to get Gardasil, Merck & Co.'s new vaccine against strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV."

The Associated Press reported:

"Merck is bankrolling efforts to pass laws in state legislatures across the country mandating it Gardasil vaccine for girls as young as 11 or 12. It doubled its lobbying budget in Texas and has funneled money through Women in Government, an advocacy group made up of female state legislators around the country."

The order was overturned by state legislature after overwhelming disapproval from the public. Controversy continues to circulate, despite Merck’s assurances that their drug is safe. The CDC says they cannot conclude that the over 16,000 reports of adverse affects point to any definable problem with the vaccine, and still recommends vaccination.

Many doctors concur, saying autoimmune diseases can appear during puberty or in early teen years, and blaming such diseases for reports of problems with Gardisil. Other studies seem to indicate that the vaccine may actually trigger autoimmune reactions; in one study, results seems to point to a statistically significant difference in the number of cases of severe arthritis in young women given the vaccine compared to women in the control group who were given the placebo.

A band of worried parents - Ainsley’s included - have started a website called ‘The Truth About Gardisil’ to tell their story and the stories of other families who feel that the vaccine proved harmful. Ainsley is feeling better, but says rebuilding her body has been difficult. John Flood is still worried about his daughter, who remains bedridden.

(Sources: NBC news, CDC.gov, clinical trials.gov)

Learn more about this author, Grace Alexander.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.