The controversy surrounding the HPV vaccine has hit the headlines again, with a Catholic school in Manchester informing parents that the school would not be providing the vaccine and that parents should make their own arrangements for their daughters. The decision has been greeted by a great deal of emotive hype from the media, but as Mulier Fortis has mentioned, one of the issues ignored by the media with regard to the HPV vaccine are the very real fears of side-effects and health complications.
The moral implications of the vaccine have provoked heated debates throughout Catholic blogosphere with committed pro-lifers coming down strongly on both sides of the argument. As I have stated in a previous post, even setting aside the moral concerns about this vaccine, the health risks cannot be ignored. Since its introduction, deaths resulting from this vaccine run at an average of one per month, alongside 140 cases of serious complications including coma, paralysis and anaphalactic shock.
I would not wish cancer on anyone, particularly my own daughter, but nor would I be prepared to put my daughter at risk of serious health complications for the sake of a vaccine that has been rushed into circulation and remains of questionable medical value.
