Scare Story: Daily Mail’s Lauren Paxman Says Lucy Hinks’ Waking Coma Was Caused By The Cervical Cancer Jab
SCARE Story of The Day: The Cervarix vaccine. The Daily Mail’s Lauren Paxman has news of Lucy Hinks:
Lucy Hinks is unable to walk or talk after having injections at school
Parents warn others to check on potential side effects of Cervarix vaccine
The statements are delivered as fact:
Girl, 13, left in ‘waking coma’ and sleeps for 23 hours a day after severe reaction to cervical cancer jabs
The news is clear: the jabs have made Lucy Hinks ill. Only, they might not have.
You might suppose Paxman is the victim of the Mail’s sub-editors, for whom everything is bad. But she states:
A schoolgirl has been left in a ‘waking coma’, too exhausted to open her eyes or speak, after having a cervical cancer vaccine.
The link if made clear. The jab can turn you into a zombie.
Last October and again a month later, Lucy Hinks joined her classmates at school in Wigton in Cumbria to have the HPV jab Cervarix as part of a country-wide programme. By Christmas, she had visited the doctor several times with flu-like symptoms, tiredness and joint pain. After the third injection of the vaccine, in May this year, Lucy began to experience extreme exhaustion. Her health has now deteriorated so badly that for the past seven weeks she has slept for up to 23 hours day.
Horrible. But why is Lucy ill?
Lucy’s parents Pauline Steve live in Port Carlisle, Cumbria. They are “urging parents to find out about the potential side effects of the vaccine, Cervarix”.
Only, the fretful parents might not be the best source of information.
Says Mrs Hinks:
“I would not wish what we’ve been through on anyone. I’ve not seen the whites of Lucy’s eyes for weeks and nobody can tell us when it will turn. I would urge parents to get all the facts, gather as much information as you can. Decide for yourself if it’s right for your child… At first we didn’t pay any major attention to it. We were only aware there was something seriously wrong this July.”
But Paxman says that between October and Christmas Lucy had visited the doctor “several times”.
Lucy, a bright scholar at Nelson Tomlinson School with a gift for maths, had her third and final instalment of the vaccine in May. Soon afterwards, she started displaying signs of exhaustion.
Lucy was in a bad way. She was taken to Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary. Back at home, her condition deteriorated. Says Pauline:
“We got a letter from the consultant at the hospital. It says it’s quite possible that this might turn out to be a reaction to the HPV vaccine.”
We do not see the letter, and cannot see how it was phrased.
The worried mother adds:
“She can whisper five words,’ said Mr Hinks, who uses a microphone to help make out Lucy’s barely audible syllables. “She says ‘hurting, toilet, tablet, water’ and, most of all, ‘mum’.”
And all this was caused by the cancer jab?
The couple said doctors are now 95 per cent sure Lucy’s diagnosis of ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is correct.
The NHS describes it thus:
Around 250,000 people in the UK have CFS. Anyone can get CFS, although it is more common in women than in men. It usually develops in the early 20s to mid-40s. Children can also be affected, usually between the ages of 13 and 15.
How do you get it?
Contributing factors
The main factors thought to increase the risk of developing CFS are listed below:
• an inherited genetic susceptibility (it is more common in some families)
• viral infections such as glandular fever, which weaken the immune system
• exhaustion and mental stress
• depression
• a recent traumatic event, such as bereavement, divorce or redundancy
• childhood trauma
Exacerbating factors
The following factors are thought to make CFS worse:
• recurring viral or bacterial infections
• not being active enough, or being too active
• stress
• poor diet
• being socially isolated or feeling frustrated and depressed
Back to the Mail:
Mrs Hinks has revisited the decision to allow Lucy to have the vaccine many times.
And:
But the pair say they were never given information about any potential side-effects of the vaccine.
The NHS lists possible side-effects as:
Very common: More than 1 in 10 people who have Cervarix
• headaches
• injection site problems such as redness, swelling, paraesthesiae, pain or hardening of the skin
• musclepain or tenderness
• tiredness
Common: More than 1 in 100 people who have Cervarix
• diarrhoea
• fever
• gastrointestinal problems
• itching
• jointpain
• nausea
• skin rash or rashes
• stomachpain
• urticaria
• vomiting
Uncommon: More than 1 in 1000 people who have Cervarix
• feeling dizzy
• respiratory tractinfection
The frequency of these side-effects is unknown
• allergic reactions including anaphylactic reactions
• angioedema
• lymphadenopathy
Paxman adds:
Though neither has any criticisms of the local vaccination programme, Mr and Mrs Hinks are now urging parents to make sure they have as much information as possible before making a decision.‘Talk to people about it,”said Mrs Hinks. “You decide, not the Government, whether it’s right for your child.”
Good advice. The vaccine is not compulsory. All medicines carry a degree of risk. The official advice says so.
But can Paxman’s clear link between the vaccine and ME be proven?
Mr Hinks copes by trawling the internet for cures. He has found case studies of other girls who are believed to have suffered similar reactions to the vaccine. The couple were also recently asked to have their other daughter, 12-year-old Emily, vaccinated with Cervarix. They refused and wrote to the health authority stating their fears.
Right no it is a fear. And there is no proven link.
A spokeswoman at GlaxoSmithKline, which makes the vaccine, says:
“Any suspected adverse reaction related to vaccination can be very distressing and we take these reports very seriously. The UK medicines safety agency regularly reviews all reported suspected adverse events and has concluded that no new or serious risks have been identified during use of Cervarix in the UK, and that the balance of benefits and risks remains positive.”
Still, Paxman has her half a scare story:
Lucy is not the first to have suffered devastating health effects apparently linked to the injection. Rachel Attridge, then 17, was unable to move, speak or eat for four months, after she was struck down 18 months ago with Guillain-Barre Syndrome – a rare disease where the body’s immune system attacks the nervous system by mistake. Her doctors told her they were ‘99.9 per cent sure’, the illness had been triggered by the cervical cancer jab.
We do not hear from those uncertain doctors.The NHS reports:
The exact cause of Guillain-Barré syndrome is unclear. There is no way of identifying who is most at risk. However, in most cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome, the person affected had a viral or bacterial infection a few weeks before getting the condition. It is likely that the infection causes the immune system to attack the body’s nerves. How common is Guillain-Barré syndrome? Guillain-Barré syndrome affects about 1,500 people in the UK every year. It is slightly more common in men than women. It can affect people of any age, including children.
Medics are uncertain how anyone gets the illness. But one sufferer’s medics are reported as being almost certain you can get it from the cervical cancer jab.
Paxman then pulls up a third victim:
In one of the most high-profile cases linked to the injection, though, Natalie Morton’s death – one hour after being given the jab….
The Daily Mirror reported it thus:
“14-year-old girl dies after cervical cancer jab”
The Express trilled:
JAB AS DEADLY AS THE CANCER
But the deadly jab has – unlike cancer – killed no-one. The Daily Mail told us:
More than 2,900 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year, and just under 1,000 die.
And having introduced a past scare story to illustrate a new one, Paxman adds that Morton’s death was “judged to be nothing to do with the immunisation. The 14-year-old died from an undiagnosed heart tumour.”
The tin lid on Paxman’s hideous story designed to cause fear and worry is the Mail’s section entitled:
CERVICAL CANCER JAB CONTROVERSY
Of the four million vaccinations carried out over the programme’s first two years, there were 4,445 reported side effects.
• 1,669 reported ‘injection-site reactions’ for example a sore arm.
• 1,013 reported allergic reactions, most were rashes.
• There were 3,591 ‘other recognised reactions’ including 631 cases of nausea and 629 headaches.
• There were four cases of Guillan-Barre Syndrome, which can lead to paralysis. Although the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency notes: ‘There is no evidence that the vaccine has increased the frequency of GBS above that expected to occur naturally in the population’.
None of the deaths or serious health problems which have followed immunisation has been directly linked to the vaccine – but it has been known to trigger undetected health problems.
Not a word about ME. And if Lucy’s condition has been caused by the vaccine she would be one in four million. She would be desperately unlucky. But even then to sell her gross misfortune as the thin edge of a wedge is dishonest.
Paxman then delivers a key thought:
Some critics also believe that the HPV injection can give teenagers a false sense of security, encouraging them to be more sexually active because they no longer have to fear cervical cancer.
Yep, the only way to stop this cancer is to stop having sex. Hey, Paxman is just giving you the options…
Posted: 14th, November 2011 | In: Key Posts Comments (6) | TrackBack | Permalink
