Parent wants answers on Gardasil vaccine

BERKELEY, Calif., July 7 (UPI) -- A 13-year-old girl's father is asking if other U.S. teens who were vaccinated with Gardasil have experienced neurological problems as his daughter has.

Philip Tetlock, a psychology professor, told U.S. News & World Report that he wants to know whether the vaccine or random coincidence is to blame for his daughter's being nearly paralyzed 15 months after she received a vaccine against cervical cancer-causing human papillomavirus virus

"We're aware of this case and based on the facts that we've received, the information doesn't suggest that this event was causally associated with vaccination," Merck spokesperson Kelley Dougherty told the magazine.

The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, a national program of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention receives reports of adverse events after vaccines. More than 12 million doses of Gardasil vaccine have been distributed and VAERS received 31 reports of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, or GBS, after Gardasil U.S. vaccination. Ten have been confirmed -- five reported vaccination with Menactra and Gardasil at the same time, seven did not meet the case definition for GBS, when evaluated by the Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment group, one had symptoms of GBS prior to vaccination, four are unconfirmed reports and nine are pending additional follow-up, VAERS said.