El Carmen de Bolívar: a lesson not to be forgotten
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18597/rcog.46Abstract
The growing concern regarding the safety of vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) is no secret to anyone in Colombia.
This concern arises from recent events in El Carmen de Bolívar a town located close to the north coast in the country, where more than 500 girls who were vaccinated presented a variety of symptoms that required medical care in the local hospital. The event reached such a magnitude that it not only overwhelmed the local health services in the township but also required the joint effort of several agencies of the national, department and regional levels to placate the irate population, restore law and order, and shed light on the facts (1).
Multiple theories have been proposed in an attempt to explain the sequence of events, but two of them in particular have been the focus of our attention: the symptoms reported may be explained as an adverse reaction to the vaccine, or as a somatoform disorder (mass psychogenic response). The objective of this editorial is to contribute to the current discussion by means of a critical assessment of the evidence regarding the safety of HPV vaccination and to approach the complexity of the problem that took place at El Carmen de Bolivar as a form of reflection on the issue.
Author Biography
Carlos Fernando Grillo-Ardila
Editor Asociado, Revista Colombiana de Obstetricia y Ginecología
Editor Grupo Cochrane de Infecciones de Transmisión Sexual
Profesor, Departamento de Obstetricia y Ginecología,
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
References
Noticias Caracol. Septiembre 29 de 2014. Disponible en: http://www.noticiascaracol.com/salud/les-dan-jugo-y-frutas-y-no-hay-solucion-padres-de-ninas-de- carmen-de-bolivar
Pérez Á, Cañón L, Vanegas E, Olivos J. Evaluación seguridad de la vacuna contra el Virus de Papiloma Humano. Bogotá D.C.: Instituto de Evaluación Tecnológica en Salud IETS; 2014. Visitado 2014 Sept. 15. Disponible en: http://www.iets.org.co/reportes-iets/Paginas/Evaluacion-seguridad-vacuna-Papiloma-Humano.aspx
Lu B, Kumar A, Castellsague X, Giuliano AR. Efficacy and safety of prophylactic vaccines against cervical HPV infection and diseases among women: a systematic review & meta-analysis. BMC Infect Dis.2011;11:13.
Gonçalves AK, Cobucci RN, Rodrigues HM, de Melo AG, Giraldo PC. Safety, tolerability and side effects of human papillomavir us vaccines: a systematic quantitative review. The Brazilian journal of infectious diseases. 2014 S1413-8670(14)00069-5.
National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools. AMSTAR: assessing methodological quality of systematic reviews. Hamilton, ON: McMaster University. 2011. Visitado 2014 Sept. 15. Disponible en: http://www.nccmt.ca/registry/view/eng/97.html
Jones TF. Mass Psychogenic Illness: Role of the Individual Physician. Am Fam Physician. 2000; 62:2649-53.
Boss LP. Epidemic hysteria: a review of the published literature. Epidemiol Rev. 1997;19:233-43.
Small GW, Feinberg DT, Steinberg D, Collins MT. A sudden outbreak of illness suggestive of mass hysteria in schoolchildren. Arch Fam Med. 1994;3:711-6.
Jones TF, Craig AS, Hoy D, Gunter EW, Ashley DL, Barr DB, et al. Mass psychogenic illness attributed to toxic exposure at a high school. N Engl J Med. 2000;342:96-100.
Selden BS. Adolescent epidemic hysteria presenting as a mass casualty, toxic exposure event. Ann Emerg Med. 1989;18:892-5.
Fu LY, Bonhomme LA, Cooper SC, Joseph JG, Zimet GD. Educational inter ventions to increase HPV vaccination acceptance: a systematic review. Vaccine. 2014;32:1901-20.
Rambout L, Tashkandi M, Hopkins L, Tricco AC. Self-reported barriers and facilitators to preventive human papillomavirus vaccination among adolescent girls and young women: a systematic review. Prev Med. 2014;58:22-32.
Ferrer HB, Trotter C, Hickman M, Audrey S. Barriers and facilitators to HPV vaccination of young women in high-income countries: a qualitative systematic review and evidence synthesis. BMC Public Health. 2014;14:700.
Trim K, Nagji N, Elit L, Roy K. Parental Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviours towards Human Papillomavirus Vaccination for Their Children: A Systematic Review from 2001 to 2011. Obstetrics and gynecology international. 2012;2012:921236.
How to Cite
Downloads
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
| Article metrics | |
|---|---|
| Abstract views | |
| Galley vies | |
| PDF Views | |
| HTML views | |
| Other views | |
