The researchers found many girls were afraid and anxious when offered Gardasil.
Some girls are missing out on the vaccination that helps protect against cervical cancer because of fears related to the vaccination process, a study by researchers at the University of Sydney and the Children's Hospital at Westmead has found. In the study, carried out at nine Sydney metropolitan schools and published in the current edition of the Medical Journal of Australia , researchers found many schoolgirls showed high levels of fear and anxiety when offered HPV vaccine (Gardasil). Principal investigator Associate Professor Rachel Skinner said: "Sometimes this fear was so extreme it bordered on hysteria, with girls crying, screaming and fainting. When this intense fear was witnessed by girls waiting to be vaccinated, the girls' anxiety levels was heightened. "Nurses had difficulty administering the vaccine to these girls, and this sometimes resulted in the girl not being vaccinated, despite their parents consenting to the vaccination," said Associate Professor Skinner. Associate Professor Skinner said she and her team were surprised to find vaccination fear was so common. "We observed vaccination days in three schools and interviewed 130 girls who had been offered the vaccine, as well as 38 parents, seven nurses and 10 teachers.
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