Should We Immunize Teen Girls Against HPV?
I have been watching the news coverage discussing the relatively new HPV vaccine, but it wasn’t until I saw that the government is trying to mandate this vaccine for all 6th grade girls, that I decided I needed to talk about it.
HPV or genital human papillomavirus is the cause of 70% of cervical cancer cases and 90% of all genital warts. By offering the vaccine to girls and women ages 9-26, the FDA and Merck, the makers of Gardasil®, stand to save 3,700 lives per year.
However, is it the place for our government to MANDATE this vaccine be given to girls before they enter the 6th grade?
I was discussing the issue (before I saw that it had passed the Virginia House of Representatives) with a friend who’s daughter will be starting High School in the fall. We were both struggling with the whole issue, beginning with, is the vaccine safe?
Then we got into the whole discussion of ethics vs. health. I wouldn’t want my child thinking that just because she had received a shot that she now had the green light to have sex or to somehow think she was protected from all STDs. Hopefully I will have done my job as a parent, and she will be able to make the appropriate decisions, but what about all the girls who have not had the proper guidance, upbringing or just make bad decisions?
What if we could give the shot but not tell them what they were being immunized for? Probably not the right way to go about it either.
And from the health standpoint, part of me says, if we can prevent the contraction of HPV and spare the risk of cervical cancer, then yes, we should vaccinate. But shouldn’t that be our decision as parents and as women? Is it right for a bunch of middle aged (mostly male) politicians to think for us?
So now it is your turn! Please give me your thoughts on this issue. Is it an ethical issue or a health issue? Does the government need to mandate this? Oh, and don’t forget to vote in the poll!!
http://www.prolifeblogs.com/articles/archives/2007/02/gardasil_is_not.php
excerpts from
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54102
“We’re moving toward mandating every new vaccine on the market. But our children have too many shots now. Every new one further burdens their immune systems. We simply don’t know the effect of that.
“Not long ago, an anti-diarrhea vaccine was approved and touted and used, until it killed and injured so many babies that it was withdrawn. Oops!
“Every ”oops” is someone’s life – but the company has lots of expensive lawyers plus government protection for mandated vaccines. How nice for them.
“Mixing medicine and politics is bad medicine. Just wait until they develop an AIDS vaccine. Any bets on how long it will take them to require everyone to have it?” she wrote.
Betsy and Joyce – Thank you for stopping in and sharing your insight. I know I’ve said it before, but the more information we have, the better decisions we can make for our families.
A few years ago I got an article on vaccines and autism. I’ve been a bit leary of vaccines since then. My son just had a check-up and the nurse walked in with all these shots and as she’s going to administer them, she tells me that there is a new one in the bunch. I knew he would be getting vaccines, but I wasn’t told of the new one. Everything happened so quickly and I left there feeling taken advantage of. You live and you learn. Next time I will be sure to pester them with questions before hand.
After all these comments, no one’s mentioned the adverse effects of medication approved by FDA and on ly discovered after the public is in danger and suffering from those adverse effects. Would you inject anything in a child when the medicine has only been in existence for 6 years and only approved for months and only tested on 1200 girls, none of whom are old enough to contract cervical cancer and barely old enough to suffer from a sexually transmitted disease. Why aren’t they vaccinating boys for this sexually transmitted disease? Parents should be questioning the heavy-handed lobbying efforts of a company that makes the vaccine and makes huge profits from that vaccination. No one’s mentioned the cost is in the hundreds. Who’s paying for the girls who don’t have health insurance to be vaccinated? The taxpayers. The scandal of the DPT shot, the first vaccine mandated for American childred, is jst now being publicized. It’s still the subject of so much misinformation from doctors who know better. The Doctor quoted by ABC on 2020 said the safe DPT shot was approved in 1992, forgot to mention it wasn’t mandated by government until 1998. Surprised? Parents need to educate themselves before they accept hook, line and sinker, what the drug companies are telling them. Read White Lies: A Tale of Babies, Vaccines and Deception if you want the hard truth. Kristin King knows whereof she speaks.
I am NOT into conspiracy theories. For the record, HPV is not easily detected in boys. That is something that the scientists are still working on. It seems to me that many of you would think that just about anything a drug company can research would be a “hook line & sinker.” It’s always going to be a catch 22. In other words, it’s not always good enough for certain people. Some bitch that scientists aren’t doing enough and then when they do come up with something that is significant it’s not good enough. Also, when you pick up medications from the pharmacy there is always going to be a list of POSSIBLE side effects ~ it doesn’t mean you will experience those side effects. That is why people are supposed to contact their doctor if and when they do experience something new OR different when taking a medication. Also, vaccines are NOT the same as medications. I’m about done with this thread ~~~ I think if somebody wants to keep their daughters from having the cervical cancer vaccine then GO FOR IT. If somebody wants to make sure that their daughters have a better chance of NOT getting the virus that can cause cervical cancer then GO FOR IT.
I am getting the shot and I personally think it’s a good idea…
http://www.infowars.com/articles/science/vaccines_hpv_vaccination_reaction_images.htm
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21774785-5003402,00.html