Colorado legislaters have joined other states in their desire to mandate the new HPV vaccine for little girls. As with many vaccines the facts seem to be left out of the discussion when proponents get talking. So, I thought I would post some of them. I listed my questions on this issue at the end.
These bullet points are taken from the Alliance for Cervical Cancer Prevention:
http://www.path.org/files/RH_natural_history_of_cc_fs.pdf• Human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted infection, is the primary underlying cause of cervical cancer.
• Preventing HPV transmission is very difficult. Barrier contraceptive methods are only partially effective because the virus can exist throughout most of the anogenital area (including areas not covered by male condoms) and can remain infectious for years.
• Although HPV cannot be treated, in the majority of cases, the infection becomes undetectable. In a small percent of women, however, HPV infection persists and leads to precancerous lesions, called dysplasia. Immunocompromised women may be at particularly high risk of persistent infection.
• Detectable HPV infection is most common in younger women. Although prevalence varies among regions, it generally reaches a peak of about 20 percent among women aged 20 to 24, with a subsequent decline to approximately 8 to 10 percent among women over age 30.
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Of the small percent of women whose HPV infection develops into dysplasia, the majority likely will develop only mild dysplasia, which usually regresses or does not progress, particularly among women under age 35. Few women who develop dysplasia will progress to cervical cancer.• Progression to detectable, precancerous lesions can take as long as 10 years. One study estimates that the risk of progression from moderate to severe precancerous lesions is 32%within 10 years.
• Women aged 35 or older with identified moderate or severe precancerous lesions are at highrisk for developing cancer.
• Cervical cancer most often develops in women after age 40 and is most frequent among women in their fifties and sixties.8,9,10
• Tobacco use, young age at first birth, use of oral contraceptives, and the hormonal and physical implications of high parity appear to independently increase a woman’s risk of cervical cancer.
• Clinical impressions of increasing cervical cancer rates among younger women may reflect apopulation’s age structure or screening patterns rather than a shift in age-specific rates.
• Infrequent screening and associated follow-up of women in their thirties or older is an acceptable, cost effective approach to preventing cervical cancer, assuming that the screening approach is effective, coverage is high, and there is a reliable link to treatment.
• Women with at least one previous negative cervical smear have low rates of invasive cancer for ten or more years.
• Modeling of data from South Africa suggests that even screening women just once in their lives, at age 35 could reduce cervical cancer mortality by 26 percent.
These next two paragraphs are taken directly from the CDC website.
http://www.cdc.gov/std/HPV/STDFact-HPV-vaccine.htm#hpvvac1All types of HPV can cause mild Pap test abnormalities which do not have serious consequences. Approximately 10 of the 30 identified genital HPV types can lead, in rare cases, to development of cervical cancer. Research has shown that for most women (90 percent), cervical HPV infection becomes undetectable within two years. Although only a small proportion of women have persistent infection, persistent infection with "high-risk" types of HPV is the main risk factor for cervical cancer.
A Pap test can detect pre-cancerous and cancerous cells on the cervix. Regular Pap testing and careful medical follow-up, with treatment if necessary, can help ensure that pre-cancerous changes in the cervix caused by HPV infection do not develop into life threatening cervical cancer. The Pap test used in U.S. cervical cancer screening programs is responsible for greatly reducing deaths from cervical cancer. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2006, over 9,700 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer and 3,700 women will die from this cancer in the U.S. Most women who develop invasive cervical cancer have not had regular cervical cancer screening.And from the Merck website (the drug company to profit from mandatory vaccination):
http://www.merck.com/newsroom/press_releases/research_and_development/2005_1006.html"It is estimated that approximately 20 million men and women in the United States are infected with HPV. In most people, HPV goes away on its own. In some, however, certain high-risk or oncogenic types of HPV can lead to cervical cancer. The virus is also associated with abnormal Pap tests and genital warts. Each year, about one million women in the United States are told they have "an abnormal Pap" - which may trigger additional testing, anxiety, and in some cases fears of cancer. About 30% of cervical cancers will not be prevented by the vaccine, so it will be important for women to continue getting screened for cervical cancer (regular Pap tests). "From the National Library of Medicine:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&list_uids=16950013&cmd=Retrieve&indexed=google"Many questions remain concerning long-term efficacy, correlates of protection, age of vaccination, and delivery. As vaccination makes inroads as a cancer control strategy, screening practices must be reformulated to maximize the synergy between primary and secondary prevention. Research on how to achieve an efficient combination of these modalities is yet to begin, but mathematical models have provided a useful road map for field-testing of promising algorithms. Daunting questions loom large concerning delivery of vaccines to those populations that need it the most. The field of HPV and cervical cancer prevention has never been so multi-disciplinary. A new era has begun and the challenges are many."So my questions:
- Shouldn't the money being spent on this vaccination be used to improve the PAP Smear and detection of the HPV viruses that are most likely to cause the cancer so there are less false positives?
-Of the 3,900 women who died of cervical cancer in 2005 how many of them were 50 or over? How many followed a faithful yearly PAP test schedule? How many were immunocompromised? How many used Oral contraceptives or tobacco,?
- The 5,000 girls/women world wide who participated in this study were only followed for 18 months to two years after receiving the vaccine. Is that long enough?
- Should citizens be injected against their will with biological agents that can injure and kill for what the state has defined as the common good?
From the National Vaccine Information Center "more than $1 billion [has been] awarded to vaccine casualties under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986."- Why do so many American citizens succumb to fear instead of looking for the facts and claiming responsibility for their own lives by making informed decisions? Physicians and drug companies bank on fear.
From Merck "Each year, about one million women in the United States are told they have "an abnormal Pap" - which may trigger additional testing, anxiety, and in some cases fears of cancer."- How many girls who recieve this vaccine will feel "safe" and "protected" from Cervical cancer and so put off getting a PAP test done annually?
From the CDC "About 30% of cervical cancers will not be prevented by the vaccine, so it will be important for women to continue getting screened for cervical cancer (regular Pap tests)."- Why a vaccination for HPV when the #1 killer of women is heart disease? Shouldn't the greater focus be on preventing heart disease? Or can't the drug companies benefit from that - yes that is sarcasm.
- Why are we vaccinating young girls when the highest rate of occurance of cervical cancer is in women over 50?
-Since when does refusal to receive HPV vaccine become cause to keep a child out of school? What are they going to legislate next; that boys with jock itch can't shower? Sorry if that sounds crass, but that is how illogical this bill sounds to me.
That's my 2 cents.
