GOLD Coast mum Mellisa Blakemore is outraged that her 15-year-old son was given a Gardasil vaccination at school against her wishes, which were made clear on a consent form.

When the Queensland Health vaccination program was delivered at Merrimac State High School last week students were given consent forms to sign themselves.

Gold Coast Health yesterday said children under the age of 16 could give consent if they were judged to have the “capacity to do so’’.

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But Ms Blakemore said it was “abominable’’ to send consent forms to parents and then ignore them.

The State Government vaccination program is subcontracted to the Gold Coast City Council, whose nurses collect students’ consent forms.

The vaccine, developed by Queensland scientist and former Australian of the Year Professor Ian Frazer, is designed to protect women against most cervical cancers and provide immunity against genital warts and some other cancers.

Some strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) targeted by the vaccination have been implicated in the development of various cancers known also to affect men, which include cancers of the anus, penis, mouth and throat.

Ms Blakemore said her son came home from school last Tuesday and said he had been given the vaccination after he was told to sign his own consent form.

“He questioned the lady doing it as he was only supposed to get one vaccination, and she said ‘Your name’s on the list, so you’re getting the shot’,” she said.

Ms Blakemore said when her son came home he was “really upset’’.

“He asked if there was an injection that could get rid of it and I said ‘No’,” she said.

Ms Blakemore has complained to Queensland Health, the Gold Coast City Council and the school.

“From a parent’s point of view, giving us consent forms then going over our heads is just abominable and terrible,” she said.

“I can’t take back what happened to my son but parents should know what’s happening in my school.”

Ms Blakemore said she was concerned about lack of research into the vaccine and potential side effects.

“My son doesn’t comprehend that sort of stuff, they don’t actually get the other side of the story so he’s not well informed enough to make those decisions when put on the spot,” she said.

Ms Blakemore said 15-year-olds were too young to make decisions about their body.

“They can’t vote, they can’t drink and legally they can’t have sex but yet they’re allowed to sign a form for vaccine for a sexually transmitted disease,” she said.

“If they don’t have consent forms from parents they should be sending a note home to say they weren’t vaccinated, not just go ‘here’s a form, we think you’re old enough to make these decisions’.”

A Gold Coast Health spokeswoman said if parental consent was unavailable for Year 10 students they then took into account whether the student was capable of giving consent.

“This is determined based on the child understanding the nature of the procedure, its risks and benefits,” she said.

A council spokesman said it followed Queensland Health’s guidelines.

“The Information Privacy Act prevents the City of Gold Coast commenting in relation to individual matters,” he said.

The Education Department and Merrimac State High School declined to comment.