Girl of 13 left in ‘waking coma’ after having cervical cancer jab

A TEENAGER has been left in a “waking coma” after suffering extreme side-effects her family claims are linked to a vaccine against cervical cancer.

Lucy Hinks, 13, saw her health deteriorate soon after having the Cervarix vaccine at school in Wigton, Cumbria, and is now asleep for 23 hours a day and unable to walk or talk.

Her case is one of a number across the country, where people are claiming to have side-effects from the jab.

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Now a mother from West Yorkshire is urging the Government to carry out more research into the vaccine, which has been offered to all 12 and 13 year old girls in the UK since September 2008. Caron Ryalls, from Wakefield, saw her daughter Emily, 14, suffer from chronic fatigue, sharp abdominal pains, numbness in her arms and legs, allergies and flu-like symptoms after having the vaccination last year, which protects against the two strains of the HPV virus.

Emily has watched her grades slip after being forced to miss weeks of school and has cut down on playing the sports she loves because of the unpredictable waves of tiredness.

Mrs Ryalls said: “Emily had the first jab at school in October and started feeling the effects in about December.

“We thought that it was just flu – she was vomiting and aching all over. She had already missed several weeks of school but the symptoms went on for a few months.

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“Eventually, we decided to take her to a paediatrician and they diagnosed chronic fatigue syndrome but after her third jab in May, we went on holiday and she was lethargic for the full two weeks.

“She then suffered abdominal pain and developed an allergy to our pet dog that we have had for 10 years.

“At this point the penny dropped and I saw on the internet that there had been similar cases.”

Other cases are said to include 17-year-old Stacey Jones from Wolverhampton.

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She suffered severe brain damage and dozens of epileptic seizures after having the jab in November 2008. Lauren Jackson, who was 12 when she had the vaccine in October last year, was left in a wheelchair after suffering juvenile arthritis which left her on a drip in hospital for weeks.

Mrs Ryalls is calling for the Government and drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline to conduct more clinical trials to ensure Cervarix is 100 per cent safe.

The firm says the vaccine has been shown to be “generally well tolerated”.

In clinical trials, the most common symptoms after vaccination included pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, fatigue, fever, aching, headache, itching, rash or gastrointestinal disturbances.

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A spokesman for the company said: “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.”

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), said: “The benefits for Cervarix outweigh any risks and it remains an important drug in preventing cervical cancer with an excellent safety record.

“After use of more than five million doses in the UK alone, no serious new safety issues have been identified with Cervarix.”

The MHRA published its evaluation of reports for Cervarix at www.mhra.gov.uk/HPVvaccine.

Around 3,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and about 1,000 die from it.

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