Girl paralyzed after receiving vaccine

LONDON, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- British health officials are disputing a mother's claim that a cervical cancer vaccine left her 12-year-old daughter paralyzed from the waist down.

Ashleigh Cave, of Aintree, Merseyside, became ill within 30 minutes of receiving the human papillomavirus vaccine, her mother, Cheryl alleged, noting her daughter received the vaccine two months ago and has shown no improvement since.

Cave was vaccinated with the drug Cervarix, made by GlaxoSmithKline, as part of a British government-funded program to protect girls against cancer linked to the virus, The Sunday Times of London reported.

Doctors at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool, where Cave is undergoing tests, said they do not know what caused the girl to become paralyzed, but they have ruled out the vaccine as the cause, The Times said.