At 12 years old Chloe Brookes-Holder was a happy and healthy pre-teen. She danced almost daily, hoping to make it her career one day; she hiked and led an active lifestyle.
That all changed after her second dose of an HPV vaccine.
After the shot, Chloe started to notice unusual symptoms, which later transformed into never-ending cycle of debilitating chronic health issues.
She currently has myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or chronic fatigue syndrome, a complex degenerative neuro-immune disease. Its symptoms are a complete physical and mental exhaustion, muscle pain, and cognitive disabilities. It can occur after a viral infection or a trauma such as a brain injury or a chemical exposure.
Chloe also suffers from Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome or POTS, a condition responsible for fast heart rate and light-headedness.
“Everyday is a battle against the never-ending symptoms against pain, random and exhausting fits, mast cell reactions, the agony when meds, feed and water is pushed down my tube. Then there’s the war with the invisible aspects people don’t see: nausea, migraines, vision problems, light and noise sensitivity, the multiple injection wounds from injecting daily to reduce blood clots.
You don’t see the paralyzed stomach or delayed motility of my GI tract, the raw inflammation and ulceration in my colon, the over active nerve endings, blocked signals in my brain and spinal cord, and of course the intense chronic pain that you don’t always see in public because of the ‘stay brave and cry later face.’”
Over the years she also suffered from paralysis, and now has been unable to move her legs for more than two years.
“(In) October 2016 I died and came back to life due to the severity of my damaged ANS (autonomic nervous system) — I was resuscitated and put on life support until my internal organs recovered and until I could breathe without a ventilator,” she wrote on her Facebook page.
“My heart bleeds with the torture knowing I may never walk again, let alone dance again,” she writes.
Today, at 18 years old, her future and her health are uncertain.
She does have more hope these days after she has discovered a more holistic approach to add to her medical treatment. Just earlier this month she was able to move one of her feet for the first time in two years after receiving a Reiki healing session.
Nevertheless, she has been battling for her health for the last six years, and she believes it would not have happened without the HPV vaccine Cervarix, of which she received a course of three injections between November 2010 and June 2011.
Brooks-Holder is from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in the UK, and the family says her doctor believes the shot created an autoimmune response causing her body to attack itself. She first started noticing symptoms between her second and third shot, during which she was reportedly diagnosed with fibromyalgia.
She hopes to use her time to spread awareness about the risks that come with the vaccine.
There are many comments on her Facebook page from families of those who share Chloe’s story:
“My daughter has been fighting the toxins of the vaccine for the past four years. She was in the hospital for fifteen days after the first dose…complete paralysis with the worst muscle weakness.” – Lizzette N.
“…My daughter had the HPV shot and had some of the reactions you have had. It was horrible.” – Nachelle H.
“This vaccine is what killed my friend’s roommate 3 minutes after her second injection.” – Annie F.
Others share their opinions on the issue:
“This vaccine is unfit for anyone and should be taken off the market.” – Karyn M.
“May [this] bring some understanding to others that there is an issue with vaccine safety that needs desperately to be looked into.” – Tanya M.
Currently, Gardasil-9 is the only HPV vaccine available in the U.S., as the last doses of Cervarix were used up this past November, but similar serious risks have been reported, and critics say they are continually being downplayed by the manufacturers.
The History and the Controversy of HPV Vaccines
“It is a vaccine that’s been highly marketed, the benefits are over-hyped, and the dangers are underestimated,” said Dr. Chris Shaw, Professor at the University of British Columbia for the One More Girl Movie (not yet released).
Have you ever seen a Gardasil commercial? In the ad, a seemingly concerned mother tells the audience in a stern voice to open their eyes to the risk of their daughters getting one of four HPV viruses, and to rush to get vaccinated immediately.
The ad does not say how effective the vaccine is or mention the fact that there are over 100 HPV strains. It also says nothing about potentially serious adverse reactions to the vaccine.
The ad pulls on all parental heart strings about the need to get their kids vaccinated; some may even call it fear-based advertising.
In 2009, one of the lead Merck researchers spoke out about Gardasil’s aggressive marketing and risks. It is uncommon for a paid Merck representative to speak out against the company, but Dr. Diane Harper could not ignore the issue. It has even been covered by CBS News and other mainstream media, but unfortunately not many have heard about it.
The potential benefits of Gardasil last for five years, not a lifetime, and they come with serious risks:
“The benefit to public health is nothing, there is no reduction in cervical cancers, they are just postponed,” said Harper to CBS News. She added that the potentially serious side effects are riskier than cervical cancer itself.
“The risks of serious adverse events including death reported after Gardasil use…were 3.4/100,000 doses distributed. The rate of serious adverse events is on par with the death rate of cervical cancer. Gardasil has been associated with at least as many serious adverse events as there are deaths from cervical cancer developing each year. Indeed, the risks of vaccination are under-reported,” said Dr. Harper.
“Parents and women must know that deaths occurred,” she confirmed.
In 2013 whistleblower Dr. Bernard Dalbergue, a former pharmaceutical industry physician with Merck, predicted that Gardasil would become the greatest medical scandal yet.
That same year, the Obama administration gave out almost $50 million to health agencies to boost the numbers of those who receive the Gardasil vaccine.
As Dr. Dalbergue explained: “I predict that Gardasil will become the greatest medical scandal of all times because at some point in time, the evidence will add up to prove that this vaccine, technical and scientific feat that it may be, has absolutely no effect on cervical cancer and that all the very many adverse effects which destroy lives and even kill, serve no other purpose than to generate profit for the manufacturers.”
Gardasil: The Adverse Effects are Written in Its Insert
There are three HPV vaccines that have been manufactured: Gardasil 9, Gardasil, and Cervarix.
Gardasil and Gardasil 9 are made by Merck, one of the biggest manufacturers of pharmaceutical drugs (Cervarix is made by GlaxoSmithKline, a British pharmaceutical company. It is no longer available in the U.S.).
Gardasil was originally approved by the FDA in 2006 after being studied for less than two years. After its approval, patients have reported adverse effects following the vaccination including immune system disorders, autoimmune diseases, and nervous system disorders. The symptoms included paralysis, according to the Gardasil insert.
Gardasil 9 has been approved by the FDA in 2014. Patients have reported similar serious adverse reactions after the injection as with Gardasil. It has also not been evaluated for potential carcinogenic effects.
About 2.2% of participants reported a new medical condition, an autoimmune disorder after receiving the vaccine. The vaccine insert claims the percentage is similar to the percentage of participants who received a placebo, but does not provide exact numbers.
The placebo injection itself may have as many adverse reactions because it does not always use a saline solution, instead using one of the vaccine ingredients – amorphous aluminum hydroxyphosphate – as a “placebo.”
Here in an article in The Lancet, we see a phrase, “The placebo consisted of the same adjuvant and was visually indistinguishable from vaccine.”
This aluminum adjuvant is toxic, and even in small amounts may go directly to the person’s brain. Aluminum toxicity has been linked to numerous diseases, especially disorders that start in the brain.
Its safety has not been studied as a separate vaccine ingredient.
Because of the length of the trials and its varying conditions, the vaccine manufacturer cannot make direct connections between these adverse reactions, and also cannot guarantee that the rates will be the same in a different clinical trial or in practice.
As we see from Dr. Dalbergue and Dr. Harper, in practice, Gardasil may be even riskier.
Gardasil’s Maker Has Been Sued Over and Over Again by the Victims of Vaccine Injuries
A few years after the creation of Gardasil, many lawsuits popped up against Merck, all related to Gardasil. Judicial Watch obtained records from the FDA of 19 deaths in 2007, and 28 deaths in 2008 associated with Gardasil. In 2008, there was a total number of 6,723 adverse reactions, out of which 1,061 were serious, and 142 were life-threatening.
The injuries included cervical cancer, neurological disorders, seizures, and death.
The stories of girls and young women injured by the vaccine started appearing soon on the Internet, and their numbers are growing larger. Chloe is not the only one. Christina, Gabrielle, Megan, Ashley, Cassie, Victoria all were between ages 15 and 21 when a vaccine injury changed their lives forever. You can read the stories of others on the National Vaccine Information Center website.
Should I Vaccinate Against HPV?
There are over 100 types of HPVs in the world. Gardasil protects against four of them; Gardasil 9 protects from 9. The vaccines, like any vaccines, do not always work.
More than 40 types of HPVs are not sexually transmitted, and the vaccine does not offer any protection from them.
Meanwhile, over 90% of people who were infected with an HPV virus clear the infection naturally within two years. The chance of it becoming chronic and developing vaginal or anal cancers from it is low. In the section titled “Why is the HPV Vaccine important?” the CDC notes that most types of HPV cause no symptoms and go away on their own, while also including statistics on cervical cancer rates.
The question that is important to ask is whether the still not-yet fully known side effects of the vaccines are worth the risk of the small benefits they may provide.
“The decision to vaccinate with HPV vaccine is a personal decision, not one that must be made for public health. HPV is not a lethal disease in 95% of the infections; and the other 5% are detectable and treatable in the precancerous stage,” concluded a study in Autoimmunity Reviews.
