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| Remark on HPV vaccine could ripple for years |
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Multithumb found errors on this page: There was a problem loading image C:\wamp\www\images/stories/08_hpv.jpg  During a debate last week for Republican presidential candidates and in interviews after it, Representative Michele Bachmann called the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer “dangerous.” Medical experts fired back quickly. Her statements were false, they said, emphasizing that the vaccine is safe and can save lives. Mrs. Bachmann was soon on the defensive, acknowledging that she was not a doctor or a scientist. But the harm to public health may have already been done. When politicians or celebrities raise alarms about vaccines, vaccination rates drop. “These things always set you back about three years, which is exactly what we can’t afford,” said Dr. Rodney E. Willoughby, a professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin and a member of the committee on infectious diseases of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The academy favors use of the vaccine, as do other medical groups and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Use of the vaccine was disturbingly low even before the Bachmann flap, health officials say. - vaccines could cause autism Allegations that vaccines could cause autism have frightened some parents away from giving them to children. - vaccine scares Historically, Dr. Willoughby said, vaccine scares have caused vaccination rates to drop for three or four years, and have led to outbreaks of diseases that had previously been under control, like measles and whooping cough. Measles cases in the United States reached a 15-year high last spring, with more than 100 cases, most in people who had never been vaccinated. Once the disease begins to reappear, parents become worried and start vaccinating again. With cervical cancer, Dr. Willoughby said, “unfortunately, the outbreak is silent and will take 20 years to manifest.” HPV infection is extremely common — the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. More than a quarter of girls and women ages 14 to 49 have been infected, with the highest rate, 44 percent, in those ages 20 to 24. Millions of new infections occur each year, and researchers think that at least half of all adults have been infected at some point in their lives. - In most people, HPV is harmless: The immune system fights it off. But in some people, for unknown reasons, the viruses persist and can cause cancer. Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University, acknowledged that 11 or 12 is “a pretty tender age, and parents are having a hard time getting used to this concept.” Even before Mrs. Bachmann’s comments, family doctors were negotiating with reluctant, confused parents. Dr. Schaffner said he knew a pediatrician who postponed the HPV shots until most patients turned 15 specifically to avoid parents’ objections at the younger age. There are many strains of HPV, but two of them, known as Type 16 and Type 18, cause 70 percent of all cervical cancers. Other strains can cause genital warts. Some critics of the vaccine have said it is not needed in the United States, arguing that cervical cancer is no longer common here: Pap tests are finding precancerous growths early enough to remove them before they turn into cancer. There are about 12,000 cases of cervical cancer and 4,000 deaths a year in the United States. (In developing countries, infection rates are much higher, and the disease is a leading cause of death in women.) By June 2011, more than 35 million doses of the two cervical cancer vaccines had been distributed in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most common side effect is a sore arm from the shot. Though fainting has been reported, Dr. Jackson said that teenagers were more likely than younger children to faint after any injection. Michele Boettiger, the mother of three daughters in Missouri City, Tex., said she struggled with the decision about whether to vaccinate them against HPV. She worried about whether the vaccine was safe. As a Roman Catholic who believes in abstinence until marriage, she also wondered whether the vaccine would somehow send the wrong message. Experts say general population vaccination is no more considered healthy and safe in distinguished modern societies who really care for their people’s health. Unfortunately giant vaccine maker companies think more of their pockets for billions of dollars than people’s health and safety. (Source: the nytimes)   Socialize this Subscribe to our RSS feed to stay in touch and receive all of TT updates right in your feed reader
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