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Schoolgirl Lucy Hinks Plunged Into 'Waking Coma' After Cervical Cancer Jab

Vaccine

First Posted: 15/11/11 12:40 GMT Updated: 15/11/11 12:40 GMT   PA

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The parents of a schoolgirl claim their daughter has been left in a "waking coma" after suffering suspected side effects from a cervical cancer jab.

Lucy Hinks, 13, began to experience extreme exhaustion soon after having the vaccine alongside classmates at Wigton's Nelson Thomlinson School in Cumbria. Since then, her parents say her health has deteriorated so much that she has not opened her eyes for seven weeks and is unable to walk or talk.

Lucy's mother, Pauline, and father, Steve, told The News And Star newspaper they feared it could be years before she recovers and now care for her around the clock. The couple, of Port Carlisle, near Wigton, are urging parents to find out about the potential side effects of the vaccine, Cervarix.

Mrs Hinks said: "I'd 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."

Cumbria's health authority said the cervical cancer jab, used to immunise 60,000 girls in the county since September 2008, has a "strong safety record".

An NHS Cumbria spokesman said: "The vaccine has been rigorously tested and a million doses have now been given in the UK. The Cervarix vaccine which is used in England and Wales meets all the safety standards necessary for it to be used in the UK and other European countries and has a strong safety record."

According to GlaxoSmithKline, which produces Cervarix, it has been shown to be "generally well tolerated".

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."

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The parents of a schoolgirl claim their daughter has been left in a "waking coma" after suffering suspected side effects from a cervical cancer jab. Lucy Hinks, 13, began to experience extreme exha...
The parents of a schoolgirl claim their daughter has been left in a "waking coma" after suffering suspected side effects from a cervical cancer jab. Lucy Hinks, 13, began to experience extreme exha...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
nottonguetied
24 Fans
01:49 AM on 11/16/2011
Unfortunat­ely many cancer sufferers would disagree with you. We are not discussing Thalidomid­e. They are two very seperate issues and citing that as a reason not to protect young women from the very real and let's not forget ever increasing risk of cervical cancer as opposed to morning sickness is frankly insulting. Also let us not forget that this terrible, isolated incident has not been confirmed to have been caused by the drug.



DRUG RESEARCH = CANCER
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FrenchKissed
86 Fans
03:34 PM on 11/16/2011
Oops, thought the first part of your comment was you. Didn't know you were just trying to make that insipid comment in all caps at the bottom.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
nottonguetied
24 Fans
01:35 AM on 11/16/2011
jonny3456 .


THE RISKS OF VACCINATION ARE VERY REAL AND SERIOUS. CANCER IS FOUND AT VACCINATION SITES BOTH IN HUMANS AND ANIMALS. PEOPLE TEND GET WHAT THEY ARE VACCINATED FOR. CANCER IS ON THE RISE EVERYWHERE AUTISM TOO AND WE ALL KNOW DEEP DOWN THE REAL REASON WHY. TIME TO LOOK AT ONE OF THE CAUSES. ROUTINE VACCINATION. VACCINES AFFECT THE IMMUNE SYSTEM. BETTER TO CATCH FLU OR MEASLES NATURALLY THAN HAVE FLU OR MEASLES (ETC) DELIBERATELY INJECTED INTO YOU! THERE IS NO PROOF VACCINES PREVENT DISEASES. INDEED ALL THE PROOF IS THEY CAUSE DISEASE! THEY AFFECT THE IMMUNE SYSTEM'S NATURAL ABILITY TO FIGHT WHAT'S DOING THE ROUNDS. YES INDEED MANY YOUNG PEOPLE WILL TODAY CONTINUE TO DIE EARLY OF THIS PREVENTABLE IGNORANCE THAT VACCINES DO GOOD! TAKES TIME TO APPRECIATE THE TRUTH. BY THE WAY AIDS IS NOT A DISEASE!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
259 Fans
09:15 AM on 11/16/2011
LOL.

Beware, many of the people here are unintelligent enough to mistake your irony for genuine belief.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
259 Fans
09:54 AM on 11/16/2011
Alternatively, maybe I am confused enough to mistake mind-numbing ignorance for irony!
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janno123
7 Fans
12:31 PM on 11/16/2011
using capitals makes your post too difficult to read, try lower case please.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
259 Fans
04:43 PM on 11/16/2011
Are the posts worth reading?
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indlovubill
31 Fans
11:50 PM on 11/15/2011
Rigorously tested or not there are 200 strains of HPV, 70 or so potentially carcinogenic, 12 known to be carcinogenic, and the vaccines offer protection against 4.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
nottonguetied
24 Fans
01:37 AM on 11/16/2011
Rigorously tested or not there are 200 strains of HPV, 70 or so potentiall­y carcinogen­ic, 12 known to be carcinogen­ic, and the vaccines offer protection against 4.


OR SO IT IS CLAIMED!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
259 Fans
04:46 PM on 11/16/2011
In fact the vaccine protects against 2 of the carcinogenic strains (16 and 18) which cause 70-75% of all the cervical cancers.

There is little point at this stage including strains which individually cause fewer that 1% of the the total cancer burden.
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indlovubill
31 Fans
06:34 PM on 11/16/2011
Wrong yet again, apart from the appalling maths. Gardasil offers protection against 4 strains, 11. 16, 18 and another I can't remember, might be 1. I'll look it up if I get the time.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
259 Fans
10:15 PM on 11/16/2011
Elephant,
2 of the strains are carcinogenic, 2 are not, and only cause warts.

You go look it up and educate yourself, as you suggest.
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jonny3456
1 Fans
11:16 PM on 11/15/2011
I am tired of "I'm really concerned about the risks of vaccination". Be concerned about "risk of vacciantion vs risk of non vaccination." the reality is, the risk of "all things nasty" is way higher if not vaccinated, as the the rate of preventable cancers is far higher than the rate of vaccination adverse reactions. No one ever claimed "vaccination is 100% safe" it isn't. neither is placebo: you get adverse reactions to placebo too. Vaccination is important because it's the single most life saving medical advance ever. rigorous statistics for vaccination programmes are carefully applied; despite what non statisticians love to peddle. All vaccines are staggeringly carefully dealt with. Do not believe the drivel peddled by the ignorant. the central gist re safety is well known. I am a man and had gardasil electively, it's a no brainer having read the literature carefullly. I paid for it. I'm an Oxford maths graduate, and understand the statistics. they are difficult. To understand go and look at the cochrane foundation, and proper stats analyses, which reduce meta-statistics to earguments for the lay person. arguments in these comments have no intellectual validity: "I am really concerned about risk, therefor I won't do it". they are happy for the high rate of cervical cancers, 80%+ (I think ,--i.e. not 100% but dam close) to go on unabated. Shame on you. Many young people today will continue to die early of this preventable disease because of this wilful ignorance.
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janno123
7 Fans
12:32 PM on 11/16/2011
do you work in this industry?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
259 Fans
01:34 PM on 11/16/2011
And do you work in the cancer care industry?
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jonny3456
1 Fans
01:52 PM on 11/16/2011
no. I have no affiliations with any medical organisation, and never have had. I beleive in applying inteelct to trying to increse one's life expectancy however. Failing to understand careful statistics, does not mean they are incorrect. Ignoring them by being wilfullyignorant, kills many people. (e.g. the nonsense some people said and still say about smoking being "ok"). look at http://www.cochrane.org/about-us/history/our-logo and the history of the logo to understand the power of statistics to save 10,000 lives, compared to "impassioned" simpistic arguments.
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Janine Bird Reichert
2 Fans
06:24 PM on 11/15/2011
It has not been "rigorously tested" it was rushed through approval by the FDA before the usual length of time for safety testing was complete and then because it was given approval be the FDA they stopped the safety testing before it was completed!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
floodberg
Attorney (ret.)
857 Fans
06:02 PM on 11/15/2011
The science behind this jab is short-term and far from 'proven safe'; this is how my daughter handled it.

My daughter's school favoured this when she was 16 and she called me when she was thinking about it (I was the parent who talked to her about boys since she was in grade school.)  Her mom and grandparents were literally demanding she do it.  I sent her journal articles to read; she called me to talk about the data, and then passed them on to the family.  She was very responsible in school, high grades, teachers loved her, student government, and just beginning to date but not ready for anything more (and she'd invited me down to meet every one and I loved it; no bad boys!)  As no one could legally force her to do it, I told her she should openly discuss it, and see whether she could change some minds...

She arranged a family discussion about it with her mom and her parents now demanding it.  At her invitation I started the ball rolling: I pointed out she was 16, top of her class, understood the science and issues and was very responsible in her personal life; then I asked them to listen to her.  She then made a brilliant argument pointing out the many 'holes' in the coverage, lack of long-term data (remember thalidomide and DES, anyone?) and risks of vaccination, then told them how she intended to handle her love life...and she won them over.  I've never been so proud in my life.  (I also worry because she's gorgeous; I'm right about that, but I'll admit I'm far from objective.)

She's now in 2nd year engineering and doing very well.  I told her if she wanted me at college, she'd have to invite me (which she does every semester, and then has me come up to meet new beaus; she scares them with stories of me, but TBH they're all good guys!)  She has a sterling personal and academic life.  She's now interning at an engineering firm and handling it like a professional (her bosses gave her glowing reviews, and have offered her a paid position for the summer.)  And her mom and grandparents are finally giving her credit for being an absolutely stupendous young woman.
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indlovubill
31 Fans
07:43 PM on 11/15/2011
Agreed, the 'science' is far from proven, immunity not guaranteed from all strains and in any case the virus could mutate to form new strains. Potentially disastrous consequences resultant from mass vaccination bestowing a false sense of security.

My apologies for bestowing the wrong impression on you the other day, floodberg. I'm not anti attorney per se, I'm anti Socialist and anti elitist, Socialism being elitist whether that be the racial elitism of 1930s Socialism (National Socialism) or the class elitism of present day Socialism (as evidenced by lawyers and doctors on huge salaries). Capitalism or Communism, having experienced both I'm not bothered having experience of both, but Socialism is abhorrent to me.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
259 Fans
01:49 PM on 11/16/2011
I take it that with your talk about "viruses mutating" wrt HPV vaccines. you know very little about this topic.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
259 Fans
01:46 PM on 11/16/2011
She sounds like a remarkable young woman and I offer my congratulations to you in raising her.

However, as convincing as her own ideas are about the vaccine, she should consider she may be wrong. As much as one is able to do oine's own "research" into the topic, this is generally internet-based and as such it is not medically accurate, or is colored by re-interpretation and the biased presentation of whoever presents the information. Please understand that there are many, many voices against vaccination on the web, but they are disproportionately noisy and largely innacurate. They rely on cherry-picked or invalid/inappropriate evidence, and cannot be in a position to make accurate risk assesments.

Your daughter should understand this. The primary concerns from a medical perspective about these vaccines are not about safety, or risk-benefit, but about long term durability. And if it turns out that immunity wanes after 15-20 years,, then what is the big deal? Get a booster, particularly if your previous scrupulously chaste behavioral standards have also slipped.

It will take time to show the full impact of these vaccines on cancer incidence, but the dramatic decline in pre- and early malignant changes are hugely encouraging.
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tulipred
0 Fans
05:50 PM on 11/15/2011
There is always a risk but if you do not vaccinate your child and they then end up fighting cervical cancer how will you feel then ?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
floodberg
Attorney (ret.)
857 Fans
08:53 PM on 11/15/2011
As there are a large number of cervical cancers against which it offers NO protection, your logic is invalid. Moreover, I remember DES and Thalidomide...and I'm much more worried about a highly motivated pharma company releasing a drug like this with nothing better than 5 year studies on lasting and possibly genetic effects.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
259 Fans
01:57 PM on 11/16/2011
It offers protection against 70% of cervical cancers.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
PivotalForce
Once a Marine, always a Marine
243 Fans
08:59 PM on 11/15/2011
About the same as I would if they got the vaccine and ended up with a chronic medical condition.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
259 Fans
01:57 PM on 11/16/2011
Except the risks of suffering one as compared to the other are radically different.
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red0pill0matrix
25 Fans
05:12 PM on 11/15/2011
Big pharma trying to infect our childern and turn them into zombies read this article
http://www.naturalnews.com/022404_vaccines_vaccinations.html

Big pharma even recommend giving this shots to boys. If a health board recommend this shot then the manufactures are immune from any legal cases.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
259 Fans
04:51 PM on 11/16/2011
Sorry, but for medical information I tend to rely on reliable medical sources, rather than antivaccine websites like Natural News.
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sazzysoo
0 Fans
04:55 PM on 11/15/2011
I can't believe any parent would allow their daughter to receive this vaccine. It's in it's infancy and all girls being given it now are effectively the guinea pig era. Who knows what the side effects of this are.
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SChenery7
1 Fans
05:31 PM on 11/15/2011
All 3 of my girls have had this and are absolutly fine what you are saying has the potential to panic other parents, and I bet you did not let your children have mmr vacine either.
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sazzysoo
0 Fans
05:44 PM on 11/15/2011
You're right, I didn't. After huge amounts of research I decided it wasn't right for my children. I'm not suggesting parents don't get their children vaccinated if they are making an informed choice. If, after some research, parents feel it's the right thing to do, then absolutely, vaccinate. I'm merely saying that a vaccine that has only just been put on to the market (and let's face it, it is a market with a huge amount of money changing hands) should be considered thoughtfully before we give it to our children. Just because the government say it's "ok", doesn't make it so. I'm fairly certain thalidomide was also classed as safe!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
nottonguetied
24 Fans
01:46 AM on 11/16/2011
All 3 of my girls have had this and are absolutly fine what you are saying has the potential to panic other parents, and I bet you did not let your children have mmr vacine either.



IT CAN TAKE TIME TO APPRECIATE THE VERY REAL (AND KNOWN) DANGERS OF VACCINATION. MMR IS ASSOCIATED WITH SICKNESS AND DISABILITY AND DEATH. CANCER IS FOUND AT VACCINE INJECTION SITES.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
floodberg
Attorney (ret.)
857 Fans
06:03 PM on 11/15/2011
I agree 100%!  I remember safe drugs like thalidomide and DES; and I have a daughter...who decided on her own it was too risky, and then defended her decision to her mom and grandparents and won.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
PivotalForce
Once a Marine, always a Marine
243 Fans
09:02 PM on 11/15/2011
My girls are 18 and 21. We looked at all the research we could find, and came to the same conclusion... too risky.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
259 Fans
09:40 AM on 11/16/2011
The only way that a proper risk assessment for this vaccine would come down in favor of not getting the vaccination is if a female was born without a genital tract or was guaranteed never to have sexual contact.

The medical information about the risks of this vaccine are clear.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/Vaccines/HPV/jama.html

On the other side of the coin, we know cervical cancer claims 12 thousand victims each year and 4000 die, despite the availability of pap screening (30% of advanced/invasive cancer cases are in those who had a recent negative smear)

We know this vaccine prevents infection with the virus that causes 70-75% of these cancers.

Might I suggest your daughter is arguing on the basis of misinformation,, which is all to readily available on the net.
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janno123
7 Fans
03:20 PM on 11/15/2011
my daughter did not have this vaccine as I was concerned more about the risks of vaccination than the risk of cervical cancer. If children are taught basic morality; don't sleep around and use a condom there is no need for it.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dyson
debunking pseudoscience, one fallacy at a time.
259 Fans
09:49 AM on 11/16/2011
Relying on your daughter's future morals is risky - you know the virus is transmitted by oral sex too (which many teens don't regard as "sex").

You try suggesting to your teenage boyfriend that he needs to use a dental dam fefore he goes down on you and see how far you get.

Risks of the vaccine are way less than the risks of cancer.
12000 women get cancer and 4000 die each year.
How many die from the vaccine?
See here:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/Vaccines/HPV/jama.html
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
nottonguetied
24 Fans
01:51 PM on 11/15/2011
ALL LEGAL GAURDIANS NEED TO BE AWARE OF THE KNOWN RISKS OF VACCINATION
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Julia Sansum
0 Fans
02:28 PM on 11/15/2011
I send this poor child and her parents my best wishes and hope she recovers soon. Thank god this story has reached the internet we all need to be aware of the possible side effects of vaccines. Generally well tolerated isnt good enough. Also this vaccine is only 70% effective as around 30% of cervical cancer isnt caused by the HPV virus in the future screening will be cut so the risk in the end will higher as cases wont be picked up
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
nottonguetied
24 Fans
03:49 PM on 11/15/2011
the risks are known. all adverse reactions are supposed to be reported by whoever whether legal gaurdian or gp. i agree generally well tolerated isnt good enough. not like these vaccines are filled with fruit! anybody against animal abuse and abortion should read up on the ingedients in vaccines.
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FrenchKissed
86 Fans
04:00 PM on 11/16/2011
That doesn't mean the vaccine is only 70% effective. The purpose of the vaccine is to prevent the spread of HPV infection, which is the primary cause for cervical cancer. In this regard it is 100% effective in all cases where there wasn't a pre-existing HPV infection.
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