Quote:
Originally Posted by blueangel
Consider these facts:
-It will not fully protect everyone who receives the vaccine.
-There are more than 100 different types of HPV. Gardasil only protects against four types.
-Even if a woman is exposed to HPV, including one of the four types Gardasil protects against, there are no complications in the vast majority of women.
-It will not protect you from HPVs that you've already been exposed to.
-Women who have received the injections must still have yearly pap tests.
-Cervical cancer is already on the decline in the US. It's very treatable and there is usually a very good outcome when caught early (hence, PAP tests).
-Cervical cancer only accounts for less than 1 percent of all female cancers.
So... is it enough to run out and get your daughter vaccinated? Only you can decide. Oh wait.. you can't... if you live in Texas, the government has already decided for you.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Drolefille
Oh and don't go to biased websites for your information either... talk to your doctor about it.
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Best statement so far made on this thread.
Last I read, the texas requirement was due to many pediatricians not giving the injection due to the costs they incur by giving it, storing it, etc. While insurance companies are paying for it, doctors are only receiving $5-10 more than the cost of the vaccine to them (ie insurance is paying 130$ but the injection costs the doctor $125 to purchase).
As for BlueAngels assertions
1)Yes, technically it won't cover everyone who receives it. That's a fact of medicine, not a reason to not get vaccinated. It does "reduce the risk" to such a degree that the benefits far outweigh the risks of getting the injection. That's the aim. Further, there's this thing called "herd immunity". Get enough people vaccinated so that infection cannot spread rapidly, and you end up nearly eradicating the disease. Typically, depending on the disease, herd immunity starts to take effect when between 75-90% of the population has been vaccinated. The public health benefits of required vaccination cannot be ignored.
2)It only protects against 4 types because those 4 types are responsible for the overwhelming majority of illness and cancer. 16 and 18 are responsible for nearly 90% of invasive cervical cancers, and some studies have found them in as many as 80% of non-invasive cancers as well. If you have to pick a strategy for preventing a cancer with a vaccine it only makes sense to pick the serotypes most commonly responsible particularly when they are THAT involved. It's just like with newborn screening for metabolic disorders, they only check for the 6 most common types of Cystic Fibrosis mutations, because those 6 mutations account for more than 90% of all CF cases. It's simply not cost-effective to look for or create immunity to every possible form of a disease.
3)I'd consider exposure to one of the serotypes Gardisil protects against to be significant, especially when one of the complications is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide.
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