MUM SAYS VACCINE STOLE DAUGHTER’S YOUTH
A COUNTY WEXFORD woman has had her youth stolen from her by the HPV vaccine, according to her mother, who has called on the HSE to investigate and highlight the dangers the drug poses to young women.
New Ross woman Valerie Roche said her daughter, who she wishes to remain anonymous, is one of hundreds of women across the country whose immune system was supressed by the vaccine, leading to numerous health complications.
Valerie welcomed the latest figures which show that the number of County Wexford teenage girls availing of the vaccine has fallen from 88 per cent in 2015 to 66 per cent last year.
She said her daughter received three doses of the HPV vaccine, which protects against the strains of Human Papilloma Virus, in 2010, four years after it was first introduced.
‘After the third dose she started complaining of headaches. She was a very healthy girl who cycled, walked and did karate. She was also a top student who wanted to become a doctor.’
By the time her daughter was in her mid-teens one third of her hair had fallen out and she was suffering from severe muscular pain, fatigue and dizzy spells and had trouble sleeping. She could only attend school for two hours a day in 6th Year and became allergic to several foods.
She had surgery for ovarian cysts two years after getting the vaccine.
It was only when Valerie saw a programme on the vaccine that she realised that her daughter had the same symptoms. ‘I sat down and I cried.’
She took her daughter to a neurologist and to an ENT specialist and placed her on a holistic diet, which has helped her.
‘She took multi vitamins and supplements and it was all hugely expensive. She needed physiotherapy for her hips and joints which were constantly clicking.’
Valerie said there was a lack of information about the potential side effects from the vaccine for parents. ‘Now I feel grateful as there are a lot of people who know what to do if something goes wrong following the campaign by the REGRET advocacy group.’
Her daughter’s health was further damaged when she contracted Lyme disease.
Valerie said the issue needs to be addressed and girls need to be informed about sexually transmitted diseases and getting regular smear tests.
‘Children are not sexually active when they are 12 so there must be a sub group of people who are prone to developing complications from taking the vaccine. The pharmaceutical and medical professions work hand in hand and donations are made by Merck, (the vaccine’s producer) to the Irish Cancer Society, which is a conflict of interest.’
She said seven years on her daughter still suffers from fatigue and muscular problems.
‘She is 21. she can’t socialise, she doesn’t drink. She was a friend’s house party a fortnight ago and was screaming in pain the night after at home as if her whole body was being boxed. She has a positive attitude and doesn’t get involved in the campaign. She is only one of up to ten girls we know of in the Wexford and New Ross areas who have had major complications. I know people whose conditions have improved with time, but none of them are fully better.’
Valerie said the vaccine led to inflammation in her daughter’s brain, adding that she also suffers from stomach and gynaecological problems.
‘I want to see an investigation into girls allegedly affected by this to see what commonality exists in their backgrounds, symptoms and history. All that’s provided (to parents) is a glossy information leaflet. They do refer to a good website but most parents don’t go to it.’
Valerie said she is ‘100 per cent convinced’ that her daughter’s health problems are linked to the HPV vaccine.
‘I don’t see there being any other reason. The symptoms match with the list of symptoms provided by Merck. When I looked at their leaflet three years after my daughter’s third vaccine I got sick.’
She said paying for all of the conventional and holistic treatments her daughter requires is ‘like a second mortgage’.
‘We have been able to afford it, but some girls’ parents can’t and end up on waiting lists. There is anger because parents like me are being fobbed off and told its chronic fatigue syndrome. We (in REGRET) are parents and we don’t want other parents to go through what we went through. We don’t know what the future holds as some girls can’t have children. For us, we are on a mission to get our daughter better.’