Quite a bit of noise this week regarding the HPV vaccination programme. The latest seems to be in The Examiner with a leading public health researcher now claiming she is being misquoted and seeking a published apology from the reporter Today the Examiner published a news article being on a letter to the editor from a local priest calling for chastity and questioning the efficacy of the vaccine. Who needs the Daily Mail in scare story reporting?

In correspondence seen by me, Professor Diane Harper now claims that Jennifer Hough has misrepresented her work and only reported the risks associated with the vaccine in a second article published yesterday which reported on adverse reactions claimed by people and where the opinion of the journalist concluded that the HPV vaccine did not prevent cervical cancer – no research was contained in the article to back up this particular statement.

Professor Harper advocates that young women and their parents are educated about the vaccine, the possible rare risks and also that screening for all forms of cervical cancer will remain essential. She has addressed those who believe there are concerns with the vaccine and says they cannot be ignored.

An interview with Professor Harper (which alludes to frequent misrepresentations of her work) published on the Huffington Post last year is one of the easier to read which discusses issues pertaining to epidemiology, public health campaigns and research into the vaccine. It’s a pity that Jennifer Hough did not provide more information on the benefits of the programme and also report that Professor Harper believes in the efficacy of the vaccine up to the age of 26 and a protector against women having to undergo pre cancerous treatments and having smear tests misreported. Further reading on twisting science in this post by the excellent Ben Goldacre.

The article on the priest’s letter is the usual rubbish seized upon with no statistics or balance or fact checking. Fr. Eamonn McCarthy proceeded to get a lot of radio coverage today on Newstalk and Radio 1. In his letter to the Examiner Fr. McCarthy said that there was no evidence to show that vaccines worked (Psst Father heres only one bit – 60% reduction in genital warts in Australia reported last month.)

“A quick surf on the internet yields enough scary evidence to suggest that parents should think very carefully before allowing their young daughters to receive Gardasil, the HPV vaccine,” he said. “Thousands of adverse side-effects have been reported and, worldwide, up to 80 deaths among otherwise healthy young women have been allegedly linked to it. Two states in India have halted the vaccine.”

Fr McCarthy said HPV also gave a lie to claims that condoms are safe.

He also questioned what was being asked of secondary school boys.

[No i did not understand this either]

Mother nature is speaking to us through the bitter tears of rampant infection, sub-fertility, sterility and death. Like Mother Church, her cries are not being heeded,” he said. “There is a better way. Parents, do not be afraid to challenge your children to cherish the health and freedom of chastity. It has now become a matter of (eternal) life and death.”

Today the Irish Times published an article with one piece from a homeopath/therapeutic radiographer who is against the programme and a piece from two senior medics involved in public health and immunisation in favour of the programme.

I’m not a science reporter but an interested patient and reader of research and the reporting of research. A thought on medical treatments and risks – If I take a new medication there is a leaflet inside which outlines maybe a 1 in a 1000 risk or a 10 in a 10,000 risk or even a 1 in 100,000 risk associated with the medication and possible side effects. I am educated by the doctors prescribing it and the information provided on the disease and the treatment. There are side effects with all medications, there are also sudden deaths in populations, MS, early menopause and other illnesses – among those who have never taken the vaccine or any other medication.

If hundreds of thousands of women are vaccinated there will be reactions and there will be illnesses not related. We have medical review boards and agencies who will review the risks and reports and I think we have to put our trust in them, be informed about the risks of both the vaccine and also the disease being vaccinated against and also the fact that prevention in the form of safer sex and screening is also essential.

There are also issues with the way in which adverse effects are reported and recorded. Reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) which Hough mentioned can be made by anyone, are often not followed up by a full report or evidence and many people could report a headache their daughter had 4 or 5 times over and it’s never checked up.

Facts are twisted to suit positions, religious groups have published all sorts of rubbish on this vaccine saying that it will make girls sexually permissive, there are anti big pharma groups, politicians who don’t want to pay for it, those who don’t believe women’s health is worth protecting. I would hope that all sides of the issue are covered in our national press and reported fairly and by people who actually know something on the issue – whatever I think about homeopathy (clue it’s sugary stuff) at least the Irish Times published both sides of the issue in today’s paper rather that the thoughts of a priest and delving into a list of scare stories and twisting research and data.

Cue loads of comments from anti vaccine types and other attention seekers. Tin hat on.

PS: I got through this post without referring to the incredibly soft and dangerous interview that Fr. McCarthy had on Drivetime this evening with Philip Boucher Hayes – it was this which set me off digging and where I received information on the concerns of Professor Harper regarding the reports in The Irish Examiner.