A 14-year-old British schoolgirl, Natalie Morton, died after being given a vaccine intended to protect against human papilloma virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection, as part of the UK’s national immunization programme. Some of her classmates suffered side-effects such as dizziness and nausea.
Morton died hours after receiving Cervarix. The British National Health Service has quarantined the batch used at the school. Coventry Primary Care Trust has halted all HPV vaccinations for two days while an “urgent investigation” is carried out.
Critics say the tragedy highlights the risks of mass vaccination, because no testing regime can detect the rarest and potentially most lethal side effects. There have been calls for the entire HPV vaccination program to be suspended.