Letter to the Editor Response to the article of Luisa Lina Villa HPV prophylactic vaccination: The first years and what to expect from now, in press

Spinosa, Jean Pierre; Riva, C Ruga; Biollaz, J.

doi:10.1016/j.canlet.2011.01.024

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…The seriousness of this becomes evident when one realizes that most women are not tested for HPV prior to vaccination [101] placed on the funds among other things they were used to cover the expenses of dozens of legislators to attend conferences on cervical cancer at appealing destinations all of which were attended by Merck representatives.…”

Section: Enter Gardasilmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Silencing of Dissent in Science Impacts Woman. The Gardasil&reg; Story

Vernon¹

2017

ASM

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The issues of safety and efficacy of certain vaccines remains extremely contentious. The venues for this debate have included periodicals, documentary films, and an ever-increasing number of on-line sites. While debate in science is not only a common occurrence but a fundamental tenet of the scientific community, it only works when divergent opinions can be heard. When those who hold an opposing opinion are denigrated and/or marginalized by those holding the majority opinion such as in the issue of vaccination, where cultural authority for the issue is owned by the profession of medicine, both science and the public lose. What is often forgotten are the benefits derived from the questioning of drug safety that not only extends to the public but to physicians who rely on the truthfulness and accuracy of the information that is being supplied to them by manufactures and government agencies. While most physicians believe they are functioning in their patient's best interest when making vaccine recommendations, these recommendations by in large have become a matter of rote and are made because most physicians have bought into the "vaccines are safe" mantra. What most physicians don't realize is they have unknowingly been recruited by big pharma to assist in shutting down the vaccination debate. This suppression of vaccine opposition even among academics, is becoming more commonplace and will lead down a slippery slope that will silence opposition science, and the dangers that come with this. Those who question vaccine safety have been ostracized, misquoted and even made to appear mentally ill by those who hold the majority opinion on the issue. Physicians who question vaccine safety have had their licenses threatened or have been fired from positions. Tactics such as name calling and the use of terms such as pseudo-science, (even when the evidence being presented is from widely accepted peer-reviewed journals) or "conspiracy theorists" which has the effect of placing those holding the minority opinion in the category of such groups as 9/11 truthers, are not uncommon. Other methods of How to cite this paper:

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Section: Enter Gardasilmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Silencing of Dissent in Science Impacts Woman. The Gardasil&reg; Story

Vernon¹

2017

ASM

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“…Why are women not informed of the fact that in some circumstances (i.e., prior exposure to vaccine-targeted and non-targeted HPV types), HPV vaccination may accelerate the progression of cervical abnormalities [4,26-28]?…”

Section: Lettermentioning

confidence: 99%

HPV vaccines and cancer prevention, science versus activism

Tomljenovic

Wilyman

Vanamee

et al. 2013

Infect Agents Cancer

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The rationale behind current worldwide human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination programs starts from two basic premises, 1) that HPV vaccines will prevent cervical cancers and save lives and, 2) have no risk of serious side effects. Therefore, efforts should be made to get as many pre-adolescent girls vaccinated in order to decrease the burden of cervical cancer. Careful analysis of HPV vaccine pre- and post-licensure data shows however that both of these premises are at odds with factual evidence and are largely derived from significant misinterpretation of available data.

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“…Similarly, cervical cancer will not develop in 68% of women diagnosed with CIN 2 [52]) and almost half of those diagnosed with CIN 3 [39]. Finally, because there are at least 15 types of high-risk HPVs, infection with other high-risk HPVs associated with cervical cancer also needs to be considered in determining the real benefits of HPV vaccination [26,30]. Thus, the overall (global) efficacy of HPV vaccines, that is reduction of CIN 2/3 due to all high-risk types rather than just HPV-16/18, would be the most relevant measure outcome both for the individual patient and in terms of overall public health benefits.…”

Section: Hpv Infections and Precancerous Lesions Sur-rogatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the midst of mixed optimism (and official mandates) however, some crucial questions still remained unanswered. Namely, (1) duration of protective immunity; (2) efficacy against oncogenic HPV strains not covered by the vaccine; (3) possibility of increased frequency of infection with these types; (4) efficacy in women acquiring multiple HPV types; (5) effects in women with pre-existing HPV infections; and (6) probability of serious adverse reactions (ADRs) [2,20,22,26,[29][30][31][32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccines as an Option for Preventing Cervical Malignancies: (How) Effective and Safe?

Tomljenovic

Spinosa

Shaw

2013

CPD

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We carried out a systematic review of HPV vaccine pre- and post-licensure trials to assess the evidence of their effectiveness and safety. We find that HPV vaccine clinical trials design, and data interpretation of both efficacy and safety outcomes, were largely inadequate. Additionally, we note evidence of selective reporting of results from clinical trials (i.e., exclusion of vaccine efficacy figures related to study subgroups in which efficacy might be lower or even negative from peer-reviewed publications). Given this, the widespread optimism regarding HPV vaccines long-term benefits appears to rest on a number of unproven assumptions (or such which are at odd with factual evidence) and significant misinterpretation of available data. For example, the claim that HPV vaccination will result in approximately 70% reduction of cervical cancers is made despite the fact that the clinical trials data have not demonstrated to date that the vaccines have actually prevented a single case of cervical cancer (let alone cervical cancer death), nor that the current overly optimistic surrogate marker-based extrapolations are justified. Likewise, the notion that HPV vaccines have an impressive safety profile is only supported by highly flawed design of safety trials and is contrary to accumulating evidence from vaccine safety surveillance databases and case reports which continue to link HPV vaccination to serious adverse outcomes (including death and permanent disabilities). We thus conclude that further reduction of cervical cancers might be best achieved by optimizing cervical screening (which carries no such risks) and targeting other factors of the disease rather than by the reliance on vaccines with questionable efficacy and safety profiles.

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Letter to the Editor Response to the article of Luisa Lina Villa HPV prophylactic vaccination: The first years and what to expect from now, in press

Cited by 7 publications

References 1 publication

How Silencing of Dissent in Science Impacts Woman. The Gardasil&reg; Story

How Silencing of Dissent in Science Impacts Woman. The Gardasil&reg; Story

HPV vaccines and cancer prevention, science versus activism

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccines as an Option for Preventing Cervical Malignancies: (How) Effective and Safe?

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Letter to the Editor Response to the article of Luisa Lina Villa HPV prophylactic vaccination: The first years and what to expect from now, in press

Cited by 7 publications

References 1 publication

How Silencing of Dissent in Science Impacts Woman. The Gardasil&amp;reg; Story

How Silencing of Dissent in Science Impacts Woman. The Gardasil&amp;reg; Story

HPV vaccines and cancer prevention, science versus activism

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccines as an Option for Preventing Cervical Malignancies: (How) Effective and Safe?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

How Silencing of Dissent in Science Impacts Woman. The Gardasil® Story

How Silencing of Dissent in Science Impacts Woman. The Gardasil® Story