@HowToEscape? I think one of the considerations with this vaccine is that the main negative effects of HPV seem to be in the future (for most people a few decades down the line, though the one used in Ireland also protects against genital warts) but any negative effect from the vaccine will be immediate. It is not like measles or meningitis or something like that where there is an immediate risk with a highly infectious virus, so there is an immediate benefit to the vaccine.
The smear test is supposed to be very good for picking up on early problems, so long as people go for them regularly. Although these are not done in the older age group (over 65 I think) because of false results that they give in that age-group.
I don't know what the risk is of serious problems for someone who goes for regular smears. About 40 women a year die in Ireland from HPV related conditions, but I don't know anything about the detail of those cases (e.g. did they go for regular smears, for example. The smear-test programme I think is fairly recent in Ireland. Unfortunately I heard they outsourced the testing to a dodgey private company who were in trouble in the US I think for some poor behaviour
).
I don't know what I would do if I were younger of if I had children what I would decide for them.
There was some annoying stuff in the media about ME in relation to this vaccine. Basically the argument was, that the vaccine didn't increase cases of ME here (even though ME is not notifiable, they don't track it, and so have no way of knowing this) and that ME was only temporary and not serious anyway. They were doing this to allay fears about the vaccine, but it doesn't exactly inspire confidence if they put misleading stuff out there about ME. Very annoying as well that we were being used as a political football. Not a peep out of them about ME in the media until it is in their interest for pushing something else.
Interestingly in Ireland the group for people who think they have been injured by vaccines don't think they have ME, and it does sound like it might be more of a mixed bag in terms of conditions. A lot of them seem to have POTS.
Another factor I think in the drop in uptake of vaccines here is people can see how the people who think they have been injured by the vaccine have been treated, and they know they will be on their own if they have a problem. Ironically I think the more vociferous the denials about injury, the more they might be putting people off getting vaccinated. I think there is a good chance the group representing the potentially vaccine injured are making mistakes and some unsubstantiated claims, but I think it is possible that some people have a weird reaction to the vaccine (these side-effects are listed by the manufacturer on their patient information leaflet, so it is not really impossible that a small number of people here have been injured). I'd like to see more research in this area, as maybe some people have an auto-immune response to vaccines for some reason?
