Hours after taking what appeared to be a routine shot of Cervarix
vaccine at her school, 14-year-old girl Natalie Morton died, leaving
health authorities to puzzle over what exactly caused her death.
Natalie was apparently healthy and did not have any underlying
condition. Authorities at the Coventry City Council will carry out an
autopsy to determine the cause of death. School principal, Julie
Roberts said that some other girls also reported feeling unwell and had
to be sent home.
"As with any medical intervention ... one can, on rare occasions, see
tragic consequences," said Professor Malcolm McCrae, virologist at the
University of Warwick. "But overall this is an extremely well tested
vaccine which has been produced in response to a critical health issue
— cervical cancer — a disease responsible for almost 1,000 deaths
annually in the UK."
This is the first time that the vaccine has been linked to a death. No
concerns have been raised either in Europe of America where the jab is
routinely administered to girls.
RAS
Cancer is one of the frequently talked about and most feared disease that falls under the genre of lifestyle diseases that have evolved, rather rapidly, in the past two decades.
A cervical cancer screening expert believes that this disease can be eradicated within the next 50 years by implementing across the world national screening programmes based on detection
Cervical screening in women aged 20-24 has little or no impact on rates of invasive cervical cancer up to age 30, concludes a study published on bmj.com today.
