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2007-9-3 13:48:14 |
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Editor's note: Texas governor Rick Perry Friday issued an executive order to require that school girls age 11 and 12 receive Merck's human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Many people do not know what the vaccine is and if their girls need it. The following common questions and answers are cited in verbatim from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for those who want to know some details about the vaccine and risk of cervical cancer. Read Perry's vaccine order saves lives, but at high price Please note that the information listed here may not be as complete as you want to know. The content is reflection of the government's opinion regarding the issue. Consumers may also refer to other sources for further information about the vaccine and cervical cancer. In sum, HPV is common and cervical cancer is rare. HPV is responsible for the majority of the cervical cancer cases. About 11,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and as many as 3,300 die of the disease each year in the United States. Compared to another female cancer which is diagnosed in 190,000 and kills 55,000 a year, the risk of cervical cancer is low. The best thing about cervical cancer is that one can adjust their lifestyle to avoid it. Also the current screening of HPV/cervical cancer for women is believed to reduce the risk of cervical cancer death by 80 percent, according to Angela E Raffle who published her correspondence in The Lancet 2007; 369:367-368 to oppose the compulsory inoculation of HPV vaccine. As she said, this HPV vaccine offers little gain if any. Raffle is affiliated with Public Health Network, King Square House, King Square, Bristol BS2 8EE, UK. In comparison, Merck's HPV vaccine is believed to prevent 70 percent of cervical cancer cases! While this Merck's HPV vaccine MAY help prevent about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases, like many other clinical trials, the trials of this vaccine were performed for a relative short term, 2 and 3 or no more than 5 years. This means that the long term efficacy and toxicity of the vaccine remain to be guessed by everyone. This is one reason for some people to reject the vaccine. There are a couple of other reasons for people to worry about this vaccine. Conservatives and right groups disprove any state mandate for inoculating young girls with this HPV vaccine because they believe such a requirement would encourage girls to have premarital sex and interfere with parents' right to making medical choices. According to news media, one of Perry's arguments is that using this HPV vaccine not only saves some women's lives, but saves money as well because treatment of cervical cancer is costly. While this HPV vaccine may save around 700 women's lives in Texas, the medical cost would increase from 7.7 million a year for treatment of cervical cancer to 126 million a year for the HVP vaccine. --------------------------------------------------- HPV Vaccine Questions and Answers In June 2006, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to recommend the first vaccine developed to prevent cervical cancer and other diseases in females caused by certain types of genital human papillomavirus (HPV). The vaccine, Gardasil®, protects against four HPV types, which together cause 70% of cervical cancers and 90% of genital warts. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently licensed this vaccine for use in girls/women, ages 9-26 years. The vaccine is given through a series of three shots over a six-month period. * Who should get the HPV vaccine * Efficacy of the HPV vaccine * Safety of the HPV vaccine * Cost and coverage of the HPV vaccine * What vaccinated girls/women need to know * The Basics about Genital HPV & Cervical Cancer * Other ways to prevent HPV and Cervical Cancer Who should get the HPV vaccine The HPV vaccine is recommended for 11-12 year-old girls, and can be given to girls as young as 9. The vaccine is also recommended for 13-26 year-old girls/women who have not yet received or completed the vaccine series. These recommendations have been proposed by the ACIP—a national group of experts that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on vaccine issues. These recommendations are now being considered by CDC. Why is the HPV vaccine recommended for such young girls? Ideally, females should get the vaccine before they are sexually active. This is because the vaccine is most effective in girls/women who have not yet acquired any of the four HPV types covered by the vaccine. Girls/women who have not been infected with any of those four HPV types will get the full benefits of the vaccine. Will sexually active females benefit from the vaccine? Females who are sexually active may also benefit from the vaccine. But they may get less benefit from the vaccine since they may have already acquired one or more HPV type(s) covered by the vaccine. Few young women are infected with all four of these HPV types. So they would still get protection from those types they have not acquired. Currently, there is no test available to tell if a girl/woman has had any or all of these four HPV types. |
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