Public assurances over safety of schoolgirl vaccinations

HEALTH officials have moved to assure the public about the safety of a vaccine to protect girls from cervical cancer after schools got letters claiming it was contaminated.

Second-level schools with female students have been facilitating the HPV (human pappillomavirus) immunisation programme for the Health Service Executive (HSE) since before last year’s summer holidays. It is administered in three doses and more than 145,000 doses have been given to date, mostly to girls in first and second year, but a catch-up programme is extending it to sixth-year students.

The HSE wrote to all second-level schools this week after learning of correspondence being sent to principals with concerns that Gardasil, the vaccine used in the programme, is “contaminated with viral DNA”. It is unknown how many schools received the letters, if they are in a particular region, or if the sender was identified.