Independent on Sunday’s HPV Scare Story | Stuff And Nonsense

The Independent on Sunday apparently thought it would be a good idea to publish a front page story scaremongering about the HPV vaccine. Some elements remind me of previous unfounded vaccine scares promoted by the press and the anti-vaccine movement.

Here’s the article. The bases for the article appear to be: adverse reaction reports taken out of context; the anecdote of a patient; and a review of case series and anecdotal reports.

Adverse events reports – misusing these figures is the kind of thing anti-vaccine campaigners do. As the IoS eventually point out (in paragraphs 22-24 right at the bottom of the article – this is a known problem), the MHRA make the point that...

Read on: Independent on Sunday’s HPV Scare Story | Stuff And Nonsense