Article: 1 in 4 US Teen Girls Got Cervical Cancer Vaccine

[Nikolita]

Taken from: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93N2P8G6&show_article=1&catnum=0


ATLANTA (AP) - About one in four teen girls last year got the groundbreaking vaccine that prevents cervical cancer, federal health officials reported Thursday.
The figures represent the government's first full year of vaccination rate data for the Gardasil vaccine, which came on the market in mid-2006. Merck & Co.'s heavily advertised, three-shot series targets the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus.

Health officials recommend that girls get the shots when they are 11 or 12, if possible, before they become sexually active. Also, age 11 is when kids are generally due for another round of vaccinations.

The survey only covered children in the 13-17 age range.

Vaccine proponents had been hoping for much higher vaccination rates, saying the shots could dramatically reduce the nearly 4,000 cervical cancer deaths that occur each year in the United States.

But many families are cautious about the safety of new vaccines, said Patti Gravitt, a Johns Hopkins University associate professor of epidemiology.

Other things about the vaccine may give some families pause. It is expensive, retailing for about $375, although many health insurers now cover it. And there are questions about whether it confers lifetime immunity or if a booster shot will be needed.

"Some parents may be adopting the attitude with their daughters that, 'Well, you're still young. I can wait a couple more years before you're sexually active,'" said Gravitt, who was not involved in the research.

"My personal opinion is that this seems quite reasonable after the first year," Gravitt said, of the 25 percent vaccination rate.

Merck officials said they were pleased with the vaccination rate.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based the study on household telephone surveys done in late 2007. The results are based on nearly 3,000 teens ages 13 to 17 for whom the researchers could verify vaccination information through medical records.

Of the girls in the survey, 25 percent had gotten at least one Gardasil shot.

The CDC, which has been promoting other shots for adolescents, also studied other teen vaccination rates.

About 32 percent of teenagers got a recommended meningitis shot last year, up from 12 percent in a 2006 survey. Also, 30 percent got another relatively new shot, one that guards against tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough. That's up from 11 percent the year before.

As with the cervical cancer shot, health officials say children should get both those shots when they are 11 or 12.

About 75 to 90 percent of children got the better-known vaccinations that have long been required by schools, such as chickenpox, hepatitis B and measles, mumps and rubella, the study found.

"The overall trends are good news," said Dr. Lance Rodewald, director of the CDC's Division of Immunization Services, in a prepared statement.

"We are seeing more preteens and teenagers being protected against serious, sometimes deadly diseases. But we remain short of our goals. For almost all of these vaccines we want at least 90 percent of adolescents to be fully immunized."  

[LorienLlewellyn]

I think the vaccine is promising, but I am not getting it. For one thing it's a little late for me because of my age and sexual history. But I also don't think it's ready for anyone to get.

I have heard people claiming their daughters died after getting the vaccine. And I have heard the makers of the vaccine say they don't know the long term effects or if the vaccine will last for life. That sounds too much like they're saying, "We didn't test this a whole lot and have no idea what it's going to do," for my taste. It sounds to me like they're saying it might prevent cervical cancer (which is highly treatable in America anyway), but they have no idea if it'll give me liver cancer in 15 years.

Maybe it will be studied enough and tested enough for the next generation, but for ours? No, I'm not convinced. Maybe I'm just paranoid. Some of you might know my run in with Depo where I was assured it was safe for years until the FDA said, "Oh, wait...whoops." So maybe that's influencing me. But even as someone who might have cervical cancer (my biopsy is scheduled for less than two weeks from now), I wouldn't want that vaccine anywhere near me until they test it for another 50 years and see what the heck it's going to do to the people they gave it to.  

[myrthrilmercury]

Back before I was sexually active and when the vaccine came out, I asked my gyno about it. He told me to skip it. His reasons: one, it's expensive, two, the timing of the shots, three, there's no real data yet as to how well it works, and he didn't want to give me something potentially useless or harmful.

I've only seen short-term studies on the vaccine, and they don't say much. If it really works, great. But until I see long-term studies and some more conclusive evidence, I'm not going to be convinced.  

[Nikolita]

LorienLlewellyn

I think the vaccine is promising, but I am not getting it. For one thing it's a little late for me because of my age and sexual history. But I also don't think it's ready for anyone to get.

I have heard people claiming their daughters died after getting the vaccine. And I have heard the makers of the vaccine say they don't know the long term effects or if the vaccine will last for life. That sounds too much like they're saying, "We didn't test this a whole lot and have no idea what it's going to do," for my taste. It sounds to me like they're saying it might prevent cervical cancer (which is highly treatable in America anyway), but they have no idea if it'll give me liver cancer in 15 years.

Maybe it will be studied enough and tested enough for the next generation, but for ours? No, I'm not convinced. Maybe I'm just paranoid. Some of you might know my run in with Depo where I was assured it was safe for years until the FDA said, "Oh, wait...whoops." So maybe that's influencing me. But even as someone who might have cervical cancer (my biopsy is scheduled for less than two weeks from now), I wouldn't want that vaccine anywhere near me until they test it for another 50 years and see what the heck it's going to do to the people they gave it to.

I read your post and thought, "It's Depo all over again."

I started getting the shots when I was 20 or 21, because my mother had just gotten her surgery to remove her breast cancer and she was freaking out about me having any kind of cancer, genetic or not.

I agreed to get the shots but said if there were negative long-term effects, I was going to be telling her "I told you so."

I don't think it's been tested enough either to be requiring a widespread vaccine campaign in schools and all that, so I guess if nothing else, I'll be a guinea pig for others in the years to come.

I had heard (and have heard since then) that there were some girls who had some serious side effecs, but I was more fortunate. I was fine after my first and third shot, but after my second shot, I had a headache and was really nauseous. I ended up calling my boss and asked if I could come in a little later to work that day because I was so sick in the morning. Cost wasn't an issue because my parents paid for it and got partial reimbursement under their medical insurance anyways.