By HELEN BRANSWELL, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Tue, October 21, 2008

The trepidation and distrust HPV vaccines have faced from some quarters are a disappointment to the scientist whose discovery of the link between human papillomaviruses and cervical cancer laid the groundwork for the vaccines.

Dr. Harald zur Hausen, co-winner of this year's Nobel prize for medicine, admitted yesterday that the negative reaction of some parents in North America and Europe to the vaccines perturbs him.

"It is a little bit dismaying," said zur Hausen, who has no financial stake in either of the two existing HPV vaccines and receives no royalties from the vaccine manufacturers.

The German scientist said that though no vaccine is risk-free, he is persuaded the HPV vaccines are as safe as the standard immunizations given to most children.

"From the information which I have, more than 14 million girls have been vaccinated (against HPV) by now. The number is large," he said.

"There have been very carefully conducted clinical trials. . . . And the cases of severe reaction after vaccination upon careful examination didn't seem to turn out to be indicative that they had any connection with the vaccination. So for all these reasons, it's a little bit disconcerting."

Zur Hausen spoke yesterday to students and faculty at the University of Western Ontario in a Gairdner lecture.

Winners of the Gairdner Foundation award recognizing contributions to medicine travel to schools to lecture.

Members of an overflow audience sat on the floor and stood along the walls in the hour-long talk arranged by the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry. Zur Hausen called the response to his visit "overwhelming."

"I'm fascinated to see the interest of the people," he said. "(It) really touched me."

All 10 provinces -- though none of the territories -- have instituted HPV vaccine programs for adolescent girls since the federal government announced in the 2007 budget that it was making $300 million available to kick-start HPV vaccination efforts.

But though governments have embraced the vaccines, public response has been mixed. A number of parents have questioned the speed with which public funding was made available.

Zur Hausen said it can be a tough battle to persuade parents to vaccinate their children. "I worked in Africa for a while, I've seen many cases of cervical cancer. I know what it means to the respective person and their families."

And it's important, he said, that men also be vaccinated in order to prevent cervical cancer in their partners.

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