EDMONTON – Tamsine and Lloyd Trautman say an Alberta Health Services nurse gave their daughter the one vaccine they didn’t want her to have: the HPV shot.
Lucinda Trautman is nine years old, and her parents feel she’s too young for the vaccine designed to prevent the human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted infection. They wanted to wait to make a decision until there’s more research on the long-term effects of the shot. Now they say they don’t have that option.
“They gave her the wrong shot,” said Lloyd.
Tamsine filled out the consent form for Lucinda’s school vaccinations, indicating she wanted her daughter to receive shots for Hepatitis B and chicken pox (Varicella). But after the Grade 5 student received her shots on Monday, her parents say she came home from school with AHS forms indicating she had received these two vaccines: chicken pox and HPV.
“I’m very angry it happened. Period. I didn’t want it in her,” said Tamsine.
Tamsine says AHS returned her call the next day, and the nurse on the phone admitted the error.
“(The nurse) said, ‘We were hoping that we just marked the form wrong,'” recalls Tamsine, “‘but we did actually vaccinate your daughter with the HPV vaccination. We made a mistake, and I’m terribly sorry.'”
AHS told Global News the case is under review, and emailed this statement:
“Alberta Health Services is aware of this issue, and has spoken with the family. However so as to protect patient confidentiality we cannot speak further to this specific case.
AHS has consistent processes in place to ensure quality and safety of vaccination doses. These processes are effective: vaccination errors are very rare.
AHS takes safety and quality very seriously; incident reviews are completed in response to any vaccination error or concern. Opportunities for improvement are identified and implemented.”
AHS explained there’s a “triple check” system for vaccinations.
1. The nurse checks the consent form to ensure he or she has the correct patient;
2. The nurse checks the vaccine vial against the consent the form;
3. The nurse checks it all again before administering the shot.
The Trautmans feel AHS should be more accountable. They said Lucinda developed a fever the day after the shots, and a red welt on one injection site. They are considering legal action.
“They can’t take (the HPV vaccine) out of her,” said Lloyd. “So we’re stuck with what choice was made.”
One mother – who did not want to be identified – said her nine-year-old daughter also received the HPV vaccine instead of the Hepatitis B vaccine. Both shots were being done on the same day at an elementary school just outside of Calgary.
She said she received a call from the public health clinic near her daughter’s school and they said that the mistake happened and that an investigation was being done.
*EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was originally published on Nov. 26. It was updated on Nov. 27 after Global News received a number of calls and emails from parents reporting the same concern.
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