I too have heard the horror stories but never from sources that I would describe as trustworthy (sorry guys, facebook is not a place to go to get credible evidence). One bad experience, repeated often enough becomes hundreds and bears no resemblence to the reality.

The following figures have been taken directly from the Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) website and relate ONLY to Gardasil not the other vaccine which is not as commonly used in the US. You have a reporting system in the US called Vaccination Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) from which I have taken the figures below.

As of September 15 2011, 40 million vaccines had been distributed. Total number of reports of adverse events reported is 20,096. The majority of events reported are not serious and include pain and swelling at injection site, dizziness, fever, nausea and fainting. 8% of the 20,096 events were classified as serious. �Serious� is defined as requiring hospitalisation, is life threatening or results in death.

The CDC received 71, reports of death 34 of which are confirmed. The other 37 could not be confirmed due to lack of information such as patient names in order to follow up.

Of the deaths that could be confirmed (and I will quote the CDC here) �there was no unusual pattern or clustering to the deaths that would suggest that they were caused by the vaccine and some reports indicated a cause of death unrelated to vaccination�.

In numbers, 8% of 20,096 events is 1,608 (my calculation). If we assume 20 million doses have actually been adminstered (the other half still languishing on a shelf somewhere) this is less than a .001% chance of a serious event (my calculation).

There are two considerations to keep in mind when with respect to these figures. Adverse events are often not reported but reported adverse events don�t necessarily have anything to do with the drug.

I also appreciate that these figures would mean nothing if it was your child who was that one in a million who suffered a serious event that might cause you to regret a decision to vaccinate. You are clearly considering this connundrum carefully and whatever you decide, will be for the good of your family. No one will disparage you for that (and if they do, cross them off your Christmas list ;)).

I am pro-vaccination myself, worked in a hospital for people with developmental disabilites for 10 years, some of whom were there because they contracted a disease that caused their mental incapacity (my recollection is mostly meningitis due measles) and one who was there reportedly because of a reaction to the vaccine. I currently work in the pharmaceutical industry and reject the concept that �big pharma� puts profits above the health of people. Besides the obvious ethical considerations, it is actually very poor business practice to have a drug that doesn�t work. Pharma is made up of people with mothers, brothers and children too, and have the same ethics and concerns as everyone else.