Texas Mandates HPV Vaccine
February 22, 2007 by Kristen King
Filed under Women's Health
Earlier this month, Texas became the first state to mandate the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, trade name Gardasil (manufactured by Merck). Reactions are mixed, ranging from praise to righteous indignation, including some folks arguing that it gives girls the idea that extramarital sex is a-okay.
The requirement will take effect in September of next year, and will require that all girls be vaccinated before they enter sixth grade. According to Merck, the vaccine can be administered to girls beginning at age 9, and it’s given as a series of three shots. Says Merck:
GARDASIL is given as 3 injections over 6 months and can cause pain, swelling, itching, and redness at the injection site, fever, nausea, and dizziness. Only a doctor or healthcare professional can decide if GARDASIL is right for you or your daughter.
And just in case you missed it, let’s just emphasize the last sentence in that little explanation:
Only a doctor or healthcare professional can decide if GARDASIL is right for you or your daughter.
Hmm, that’s interesting. Also interesting is that it was approved by the FDA less than a year ago, and clinical trials of Gardasil haven’t been long enough to determine either potential long term side effects or how long it remains effective.
As you can probably tell, I’m not entirely comfortable with the idea that a state government is mandating a that a brand new drug be administered to every school-age girl in the state (or else!). I’m not sure which would be more irresponsible, not mandating a potentially life-saving vaccination, or mandating a vaccination that hasn’t been in the marketplace long enough to determine whether it’s really (a) safe and (b) effective over the long term.
And I’m not the only blogger with these concerns. Check out what the ladies of the ESC have to say about it.
What do you think?
Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King
It would seem that a few key people have amnesia regarding the tragic results of the government promotion of Swine Flu Vaccine. Do we really want to play roulette with girls this young?
HPV is not a casual association epidemic. Females pick up HPV from males, are males having any demands made to take any experimental drugs to ensure they are not spreading it around. No, females are typically the ones who pay for sexual behavior whether it was their initiative or not. Sometimes our culture is really messed up.
Kristen –
We have a discussion on this topic going on at WearyParent too:
http://www.wearyparent.com/should-we-immunize-teen-girls-against-hpv/
Did you see that this has made it through the VA House, too?
Char, I hadn’t seen that yet! Thanks for letting me know. Everyone, here’s the link: http://www.nbc4.com/health/11024981/detail.html
I loved this line in particular: The vaccinations would not be required until the 2009 school year, so supporters argue that gives sufficient time to study any side effects before Virginia’s girls would be required to get it.
Uh, yeah, any side effects that occur in the earliest stages, but what about later in life, people? This is really getting uncomfortable.
And Deb, I completely agree with you. Doesn’t make a lot of sense!
kk
Go Kristen Go. Parents complaining resulted in Merck’s announcement yesterday that they would withdraw their lobbying efforts in all states that are considering legislation to mandate the Cervical Cancer vaccine. The question is what are they doing behind closed doors and did they withdraw the money they already paid certain legislators?? Parents must pay attention and get informed. Visit http://www.readwhitelies.com for a true story that will inspire parents everywhere to go forward and fight.
That’s exciting, Sarah! I hadn’t seen that announcement yet. I’m really looking forward to reviewing your book, White Lies.
kk
I think that the vaccine should be recommended but not required for young girls until the long-term effects are studied. A recommendation would encourage parents to learn more about the vaccine and make an informed decision – though the requirement allows parents to opt out, it discourages an informed decision. I think the vaccine should be available to low-income girls who want to get it but do not have the means to do so.
I have gotten the HPV vaccine and encourage my friends and family to talk to their doctor and consider it. HPV is a dangerous disease that is easily transmitted by skin to skin contact, making safe sex difficult to practice. I have friends who have struggled with HPV and if I had a daughter, I would never want her to go through that. Still, I think I would want to study all the information available and talk to her about it. Particularly for very young girls, it might be prudent to wait until they are a bit older and there is more available information about the vaccine.
This wouldn’t even be an issue if it was for boys. But since it’s for girls, and goddess forbid a girl or her mother should take charge of her sexuality, it’s an issue.
Kids with good relationships with their parents aren’t going to be screwing around just because they have a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer.
Parents who like to pretend sex doesn’t exist by refusing to discuss it with their kids are putting their kids’ lives at stake, not just because of cervical cancer, but because of all kinds of STDs.
Many of the parents whining about the government stepping in and mandating something having to do with their parenting are the same ones who have demonstrated they have no parenting skills in the first place.
There are vaccines for polio or rubella or many, many other dangerous diseases that are mandatory. This one should be too — especially since so many parents drop the ball when it comes to discussing responsible sexuality with their kids.
Believe me, having ten godchildren and having had to give “the sex talk” to ALL of them because their parents woulnd’t/were embarrassed/thought if it wasn’t discussed it would go away, I know of which I speak.
Morals and ethics aside, my beef is that it’s just medically, politically, and socially irresponsible — even negligent — to mandate a vaccine that’s been in the marketplace for less than a YEAR. Seriously, what’s going to happen in 10 years when it turns out that one of the long-term side effects is sterility or baldness or breast cancer or something? They just don’t know enough about this to mandate it, period.
And although I completely understand your point about polio, etc, I don’t think this is the same thing. Maybe it was back in the day when those vaccines were brand new, but now they’ve been around a long time and they’re a known quantity, whereas Gardasil simply isn’t.
What do you think?
kk
YOU all are kidding yourselves if you think just because the vaccine has been around for a long time it’s safe. Ask Lacy in my book (White Lies: A Tale of Babies, Vaccines, and Deception), the real mother of a baby who was healthy at 3 months and is now 37 years old and a tragic double with no ability to take care of himself, feeding, or otherwise. Mandating vaccines doesn’t make them safe. And there are risks to every object you put in a human body whether it is involuntary or voluntary. THINK before you ACT. Educate yourself and your children to do the same thing and they won’t be having babies out of wedlock. Sarah
I’m sure the phamaceutical companies are having a party over this one. Think of the billions of dollars they will make if this passes and girls are mandated to receive this vaccine. I can’t believe this is going on in America.
And exactly what will my punishment be if I don’t get my daughter the vaccine? Will she not be allowed into schools? That’s ok. I’ll find somewhere else for her to attend. It’s worth the tuition of a private school to avoid this mess.
And that’s another great point, Karen. What happens when parents refuse? What will the consequences be?
In case anyone missed it, be sure to check out the ongoing discussion at Weary Parent:
http://www.wearyparent.com/should-we-immunize-teen-girls-against-hpv/
I appreciate the concerns that people have about new vaccines, but it seems that a couple of points are missing from this discussion.
1. Although the HPV vaccine has only been on the market for a year, it — like all vaccines — was subjected to clinical trials over a period of 5 or more years prior to being licensed by FDA, so it’s been around a little longer than you may think.
2. The reason the vaccine is not given to boys is that it has not been shown to be effective in boys.
3. Sarah, I’m sorry, but there is absolutely no credible scientific evidence linking the DTP (not “DPT”) vaccine to autism or most of the other adverse events that anti-vaccinationists attribute to it. That’s not the same kind of concern as people who are waiting to see the side effects of Gardasil.
4. Gardasil is an “anti-cancer” vaccine because it prevents the lesions that become cervical cancer…it’s true that the trial hasn’t lasted long enough to show that the vaccine prevents cancer, but since you cannot have cancer without pre-cancerous lesions, preventing the lesions will prevent the cancer. However, Pap smears are still needed because there are other types of cancer-causing HPV not included in the vaccine.
And no, I don’t work for Merck — and I don’t think HPV should be required for school entry! Thanks for the chance to comment.
Megan: I support education and choice, not against vaccines per se. I never said DPT vaccine caused autism, but it does cause seizures, well-documented. Also there are medical studies that show that links accumulation of mercury from vaccines to autism. AND the chelation therapy to remove the mercury in autistic children’s blood has been amazingly successful in removing developmental delays and allowing autistic children to speak and interact like normal children. Too coincidental for me.
The point is HPV has been tested on adult women for years, only for short time on very few 11-12 year old girls. That’s one reason why the fainting occurences in the girls receiving the vaccination are so much frequent. Dr. Diane Harper, formerly of Dartmouth Medical school, who was actively involved in the testing, has spoken against the mandatory vaccination of young girls in national media. She ought to know. I am hoping to meet with her in New Hampshire when I am there in mid-April for book events for my novel White Lies: A Tale of Babies, Vaccines, and Deception. Let’s not take what the doctors say without some reflection and investigation when there are opinions that differ, and lots of examples of after the fact dangers from ‘approved’ drugs.
This vaccine is only effective against a slim portion of the variants of the HPV virus. That means that one still has a high probablity of contracting HPV while thinking one is immune after vaccination. Also, this particular vaccine is linked to sterility and some other not so nice side effects.
Another argument against this is purely political. Now, I understand why vaccines like small pox, whooping cough and the whole list of childhood vaccines are required. It is for the good of the whole sometimes at the expense of the few though that is not ‘proven’ in some minds. The HPV virus is spread only through a specific activity to a portion of the overall population. One could prevent this spread by controling one’s own activity. That is the kicker. Are americans able to control their activity? Why not according to the government put in place to serve us! We are considered by law makers too stupid to do what is good for ourselves.
We need to be careful of the freedoms we give up to solve real or trumped-up problems. What is next? Maybe enforced medication to go with the already mandated mental health screening. What might make one mentally ill? Oh, the inability to conform to political correctness….we are a socialist state and most have yet to figure it out.
Sorry for the digression from topic. We should not allow state mandated vaccination of our children. If you live in Texas then you should explore ways to opt out. If you cannot do that within the governent school system then you should seriously consider removing your children from the system.
how much money did Merck contribute to Rich Perry?
After Virginia approved the mandatory vaccination for 11-12 year old girls for attendance at school in March, the headline read, “Merck to invest millions in Elkton, VA plant.” So obviously the passage of the legislation was rewarded by the investment in the business community (and likely promised in advance in secret). Vaccinations are not monetary investments when they result in personal lifetime injuries and the resulting trauma to families who have children who are harmed by what the government promised were the safest possible medicines for a greater good. What greater good is there here? It’s a personal disease, not contagious in school. Why is the government involved at all in this, but for monetary contributions from drug companies? White Lies , available at Amazon.com and by order from your community bookstore, reveals other details of the misleading information given to parents who have to make that decision along with critically-acclaimed story, hard-to-put-down and inspiring. Parents need to read all they can on this issue before making decisions that will affect their children for years.
I have a daughter and my mom sent me a link about Gardasil.
http://www.thatsfit.com/2007/03/11/hpv-vaccine-might-cause-infertility/
You might want to check it out.