Natalie Morton, the 14-year-old Coventry schoolgirl who died within hours of having a cervical cancer vaccination, was probably killed by a serious underlying medical condition, early results of a postmortem examination revealed tonight.
Dr Caron Grainger, joint director of public health for NHS Coventry and Coventry city council, said in a statement "it was most unlikely that the HPV vaccination was the cause of death".
The preliminary results , she said, "have revealed a serious underlying medical condition which was likely to have caused death. We are awaiting further test results which will take some time." She extended her sympathies to Natalie's family "during this difficult time".
Public health officials will be breathing a sigh of relief and attempting to get the vaccination programme back on course after 24 hours of dismay and confusion.
Fears that the human papilloma virus (HPV) jab which Natalie was given may have caused her death led to the emergency recall of the batch used at the Blue Coat Church of England school in Coventry where Natalie was a pupil.
All NHS trusts were instructed by the Department of Health to check the batch numbers of their stocks, a move which meant vaccination sessions had to be cancelled, leading to erroneous rumours that the vaccination programme was being shut down in some areas.
The postmortem examination was carried out with unprecedented speed. That and the unusual step taken by Grainger in making a public announcement of the early results, not much more than a day after Natalie's death, are a clear indication of the anxiety among public health officials over the potential threat to the national teenage vaccination programme.
Natalie was given the HPV jab, which protects against cervical cancer, on Monday, along with other girls in her year. She was taken to Coventry University hospital and died at lunchtime. Three other girls from the school were reported to have experienced dizziness and nausea after vaccination, but their symptoms were described as mild and they were not taken to hospital.
The Morton family issued a short statement through NHS Coventry, asking for privacy and thanking those who had offered them support. "On behalf of all of Natalie's family, we would like to extend our thanks to all those who have shown concern and sympathy following Natalie's tragic death," the statement said. "We would ask for time and privacy now to mourn a precious daughter, sister and granddaughter."
Neighbour Marlene Kane described Natalie as a lovely, well-mannered girl who appeared to be fit and healthy. "She was a lovely girl from a lovely family. I saw her a few weeks ago getting in the car and she gave me a wave. She was a polite girl, ever so respectful, and she will be sadly missed," she said.
The 14-year-old was also a regular churchgoer. Pastor Ian Burton, of Coventry's Meredith Road Baptist church was among those providing support to Natalie's mother, Elaine, and step-father Andrew Bullock.
Charmaine Dunn-Myria, 15, who was in the same year as Natalie, said pupils were in tears after being told about the death.
"There was panic around the school when we found out what happened. Girls were in tears in the corridors and everyone was in shock," she said. "I had my jab today as well and I was really worried about it and that something was going to happen to me. They never told us that there was any danger in these jabs. I didn't know you could get sick or die from them."
The Department of Health said yesterday that 1.4m doses of the Cervarix vaccine, made by GlaxoSmithKline, had been given in the UK with few and usually mild side effects, such as a sore arm. David Elliman, a consultant in community paediatrics at Great Ormond Street hospital, said that a rare but severe allergic reaction from the vaccine was possible, but so was the flare-up of an underlying medical problem.
"This is the sort of thing we would look for – a severe allergic reaction or more likely a coincidence because children do unfortunately have cardiac conditions at this age which can present out of the blue," he told the BBC. He added that it was a "concern" that the reaction of parents might be to stop their daughters having the voluntary jab.
