The HPV Vaccine

[pegkerr]

I've been reading some of the coverage about the HPV vaccine which has been approved as safe by the FDA and should be available soon. Some of it makes me livid. Apparently, there are some on the religious right who object to the vaccine, fearing that it will give their pure virgin daughters the idea that it's okay to have sex.

I have two beautiful girls, and I hope they wait to have sex when they are good and ready and mature and settled. And you'd damn well better believe that I will be first in line to get them that vaccine. I think it's a no-brainer. . . and that any parent who refuses to allow a daughter to get it in the hopes that it will keep her from straying from the straight and narrow ought to be horse-whipped.

Comments

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I was upset nearly to tears over the article in the Strib about this on Sunday. If it was doubts about the safety of the vaccine, I'd have to look at the data, but that's not what these people were saying. It boiled down to, "I wouldn't want to save my daughter's life if it meant she might have sex I disapproved of." Or even, "I wouldn't want to save my daughter's life if she was raped by the wrong person." I very quickly lose the ability to discuss this attitude rationally.

My dad was pretty traditionally daddy-protective when I started dating, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that that protective behavior was -- is -- about my whole person and what he hoped would make me healthy and happy, not about control. I wish every kid could say the same.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

It boiled down to, "I wouldn't want to save my daughter's life if it meant she might have sex I disapproved of." Or even, "I wouldn't want to save my daughter's life if she was raped by the wrong person."

I agree that this is awful, but I do also want to point out that in developed nations like the U.S., cervical cancer is rarely fatal - and almost never fatal for women who get regular GYN exams. HPV-related disease is mostly caught in the precancerous state and removed in a simple office procedure, with no need for chemo or anything like that.

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

According to the CDC:
12,085 women were diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer in 2002. 3,952 women died from invasive cervical cancer in 2002.

Unfortunately, getting regular pap smears often depends on having insurance and/or money and/or time to go get them, which is why the mortality is higher in poor women. I know that I didn't have a pelvic done for almost 10 years after my first because a) I lost my parents' medical insurance because I was too old, b) I lost access to student health because I left grad school, and c) I was miserably dirt-poor and working temp jobs, so the option of going to a doc-in-the-box was Right Out due to price and the option of going to a free neighborhood clinic was out due to the hours that would come out of my pay.

If my parents could've gotten me a vaccine to cut my chances of getting cervical cancer, I'm sure they would've. But they are of the Depression generation, and vaccines were and are a miracle to them. I'm convinced that most of the people raising crap about the HPV vaccine are of the generation that grew up with vaccines and never had to actually see, you know, people dying of preventable diseases. (Just like most of the morons in the government who are talking about nuclear options don't remember Truman dropping The Bomb and the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.)

Grr.

[perimyndith.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, getting regular pap smears often depends on having insurance and/or money and/or time to go get them, which is why the mortality is higher in poor women.

And not only that, but pap smears aren't infallible. I know a woman who had regular pap smears and nearly died from cervical cancer anyhow. Now she's desperately trying to get pregnant but the chances are incredibly low thanks to the surgery needed to save her life. It's really sad.

I think the parents objecting to this need to get a smack upside the head. And what if their daughter marries someone who gives them HPV? Then her virginity won't protect her anyhow.

[one-undone.livejournal.com]

That happened to TWO virgins I know, actually, during freshman year of college. Both married idiots in the same year who gave them HPV, and I had to drive two crying friends to Planned Parenthood several times to get treatment for it, and they have to live with the fact that they may get cervical cancer now. (And both were, incidentally, divorced within the year, I believe, so their HPV legacy outlasted their marriage.)

[brandie-writer.livejournal.com]

People who object to the vaccine should also consider that sex is not always consensual. I agree that I want my daughters to wait, but I also want them protected as much as possible.

Interesting article on the subject of the HPV vaccine:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050530/pollitt

[king-tirian.livejournal.com]

They should also consider that even a virtuous daughter can contract HPV from her monogamous husband.

I know that they are saying that the vaccine is not recommended for adult women, but I sure hope they make an exception for sensible women who are recently emancipated from their ass-headed parents.

[porphyrin.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

That is all.

[legomymalfoy.livejournal.com]

Yes, but they don't realize that it protects you even when you're married. Even when the person you marry turns out to be a scumbag and brings back something to your bed. Fucking morons. I'm glad to hear that your daughters will be protected from it.

[gamps-garret.livejournal.com]

Following your journal and knowing what little I do of you, I am pleased with but unsurprised by your thoughts here.

ACS has a rather simple article about what the vaccine could mean for public health nationally and globally, here (http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_1_1x_Advisory_Panel_Recommends_HPV_Vaccine.asp). It's brief, take a gander if you have a moment.

And, if you want to take action to help protect all of the girls and women in this country (and possibly elsewhere) who do not have the protection of loving, realistic guardians, the best advice I can offer is to call the American Cancer Society (toll-free at 1.800.ACS.2345) and express your concern -- and ask the Cancer Info Specialist you speak to if ACS is planning any Advocacy activities around this issue. Right now, we're not talking about any sort of legislative push for a mandatory rule about the vaccine (it's still too new), but I can tell you that when we get enough calls about a topic, it can fuel action. And when we talk about cancer prevention in a legislative setting, Congress generally sits up and takes notice.

[naomikritzer]

This issue makes me absolutely crazy. I can understand the parents who are simply hesitant to let a child get a recently approved vaccine; there have been a small number of vaccines that were pulled off the market because of health consequences that weren't detected in the trials. I am firmly in the pro-vaccine camp generally, but I can understand those who are more wary.

But the callusness of some of these right-wing parents makes me want to spit bile. They're okay with the idea of punishing their daughters with cancer if they screw around. They're okay with the idea of punishing their daughters with cancer if their husbands screw around or ever screwed around as teenagers. They're even okay of punishing their daughters with cancer for being the victims of rape -- or at least, they're okay with the idea of their pure and innocent daughters getting cancer because they were raped, so long as they get to punish the dirty, dirty sluts with cancer.

It is total BS that giving a child this vaccine sends a mixed message. This is no more of a mixed message than it was when I got a rubella booster in early high school.

[kokopoko.livejournal.com]

I have HPV. I have been waiting and waiting for this vaccine so every woman does not have to live in fear of cervical cancer. I wish it had been around when I was younger. Sometimes you have no control over sex, it is something that happens to you. I would want everyone vaccinated to protect them just in case.

[one-undone.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry the vaccine came too late for you. It came too late for several of my friends as well. Thank you for speaking up.

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

This makes me so angry I can hardly see straight, and has ever since the first time I heard about it. Rrrrrrr.

(Just a lurker, but an angry one.)

[piccolo-pirate.livejournal.com]

As far as parents who are concerned about the dilemma of preaching abstinence and allowing their daughters to be vaccinated against HPV: wouldn't it make more sense for those parents to WANT the vaccine to be mandatory? Then, the responsibility for their children receiving the vaccine would rest squarely on the state and not on the parents. Leaving the choice up to parents would (if you follow their logic) only further "muddy the waters" in their childrens' moral upbringing. Making vaccination mandatory would paint the state as the villain and leave the parents free to explain that the reason their pure virgin daughters would be receiving the vaccine would be so that they could legally attend public school. Wouldn't that make more sense?

[vass]

I know there are some parents who are scared about health risks of all vaccines, or of this one/new ones in particular, and while I do disagree with them very strongly (they don't think measles, mumps and rubella kill? They don't think herd immunity is important?) I have some sympathy for that argument.

But the people who are worried it'll lead girls to think it's OK to have sex? No, just NO. Yes or no question: do you want your daughter to get cervical cancer? It's that simple. They might weigh that against other health risks, and I'll debate the evidence but respect their position, but bringing sex into it? No.

[wildflower150.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with you! I heard a debate on a local radio station recently about this exact same topic. Although I want Mollie to obviously wait till she is old and grey before having sex ;) I won't be naive enough to think that she will never have sex and if there is something I can do to prevent her from ever getting HPV then I will do that!!!

I mean really if there was a vaccine for the HIV virus would the religious right not get that either??? I seriously don't get them!!!

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I live in Massachusetts. There's a bill before the legislature to make hypodermic needles available without prescription here (as they are in 47 states.) The idea is to allow drug addicts to inject themselves with sterile needles, so they won't spread HIV and hepatitis. The bill is expected to pass the legislature, because it would be such an effective public-health measure against hepatitis C. The governor plans to veto the bill. He thinks it's important that the state enforce its symbolic disapproval of drug use and everything related to it, more important than saving lives.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Our governor is a damn fool though. (sorry, just had to say that.) I hope he goes back to Utah soon.

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

He is, unfortunately, an evil, thoughtless, lying fool.

[catmcroy.livejournal.com]

As the mother of a daughter, I wholeheartedly agree with you.

[nazmo.livejournal.com]

The language used to promote the inoculation will decide the majority of people. You can argue stridently that this will protect young jane doe from a sexually transmitted disease, and the more religiously conservative elements will see it only in a sexual context. If it is promoted only as protection against cervical cancer, without detailing how it's spread (though not omitting it, either), I'd imagine it would be more warmly received*.

[nazmo.livejournal.com]

What I mean is, or what I haphazardly was coming at, is that there is common ground to be found with even those with whom you disagree most vehemently.

[nwl.livejournal.com]

If it is promoted only as protection against cervical cancer, without detailing how it's spread (though not omitting it, either), I'd imagine it would be more warmly received.

I don't know what sorts of ads are running around the rest of the U.S., but locally there is a TV ad currently running that says, "Hey guess what - cervical cancer is caused by a virus and - guess what - there is a new vaccine that can prevent the virus that causes it!" I'm not sure if it's the same company, but there is also an ad that tells women that a Pap is not enough."

The cost is going to be a hurdle, although some of the experts say the vaccine will be available from other companies, and the timing of giving the drug is going to be a problem for some. I can't recall any other drug given in childhood that has this sort of time frame.

If people want to get this drug out, stressing cancer prevention is the way to go. Would it be wrong to think that maybe this might be a start in discovering how to preventing other cancers. Could some other cancers be caused by other viruses? And what about women who have been exposed to the virus - are we doomed?

[aome.livejournal.com]

There was an article in our paper about the 12-year-old daughter of a gynocologist (I think?) and how she could always tell when her daddy had to break "You have cancer" news to someone because he'd come home all slumped and depressed. She wants the vaccine to reduce the chance that ever happens to her - she's the one making the mature decision to protect herself, because she sees what the alternative is.

It would not have even occurred to me to think that giving my daughters this vaccine someday would put them at risk for thinking "Hey, I can go have sex now!" until I read your post and kerrikins'. Yeesh.

[rabican.livejournal.com]

Plus, even taking out the obvious possibilities of rape/lying scumbag partners/etc, it's not as though "fear of cervical cancer" has stopped teenagers - or older people! - from having sex anytime since the dawn of time. It's not even callous logic, it's just heartless.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Some context: the Religious Right has used HPV as the cornerstone of their "abstinence only" sex miseducation program, because condoms aren't very effective at preventing HPV transmission. HPV scaremongering is how they minimize the vast amounts of data showing that condoms are highly effective at preventing HIV and most other STDs. Take away the risk of HPV, and suddenly they don't have much in the way of secular grounds for abstinence-only programs - and they need secular grounds, or at least a veneer thereof, if they're going to keep the public school market.

It's totally repellent, of course, but I think that's the foundation for their protests, rather than an outright "if my daughter has sex, she deserves cancer."

[dreadmouse.livejournal.com]

Here's the question: Would you like to protect your little girl from getting a vicious form of cancer?

As a father, my only possible answer is "yes." I'll worry about whether I raise her to be well-informed about sex and able to make the right choices later, thanks.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

I had cervical cancer.

(Removed as a noninvasive CIN III dysplasia 14 years ago, no further symptoms. No way to tell if it was caused by HPV, but the statistics say it's probable.) I'm making this point here because I knew of no one else who'd had it when I got it, then after my cryosurgery (in-office procedure) I was astonished to find out how many of my friends had had similar surgery. I'm making this point because I think too often cervical cancer is perceived as something someone else gets. (Someone dirty, sleazy and promiscuous, no doubt.)

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

I will recommend that my 22-year-old daughter get it and take my 15-year-old to the doctor myself (after clearly explaining what the vaccine is for, of course). "No-brainer" doesn't begin to describe it. These people make me sick to my stomach.

[nico1908.livejournal.com]

I'm the daughter of a cancer survivor. My mom had cervical cancer in 2000. Fortunately, it was a non-invasive form and detected early enough to be treated successfully.

If I had a daughter, I would want her to be protected.

And, by the way, I don't understand what a vaccination has to do with encouraging girls to have sex. That's ludicrous! But I'm from Germany, so quite a few things in this country strike me as very odd when it comes to nudity and sex - especially here in the south.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

My kids are grown, but if I had the choice to make, I'd choose no. It has nothing whatsoever to do with morality or promiscuity for me; I don't even know the stats on that. I've been following the progress of this vaccine since I first heard of it, and the bottom line is that there's not enough evidence that the risk of the vaccine isn't more harmful than the risk of cancer. It simply hasn't been tested enough for me (and the results of the tests that have come back aren't encouraging--nine cases of arthritis vs. three with a placebo?). Also, the vaccine hasn't been tested for its own carcinogenic properties. I have no idea whether there's a cancer risk in the vaccine itself.

I may sound paranoid, but with so much evidence coming out on the risks of vaccines that have been on the market for years, I'd rather wait until I know more about it to recommend it for young girls (or anyone, for that matter). Also, as a health professional, I'm very, very sceptical about proclamations made by pharmaceutical companies, and Merck has had problems in the past--there's lots of evidence to suggest that they were actually hiding evidence in the case of Vioxx.

YMMV, but I don't think the vaccine has been out long enough, and not enough studies have been done. And I don't trust the pharmaceutical companies. I'm about the farthest you can get from a religious conservative (We Unitarian Universalists are about as liberal as you can get), so morality has no play in my opinion whatsoever. My opinion's all based on risk assessment, and IMO there hasn't been enough research. And the results that have been released are scary.

[fireflowerlass.livejournal.com]

My dad is a doctor, and he signed me and my sister up, and we are both in the process of getting the vaccine (since it's multiple vaccines). My mom was worried it might give us the idea that it's ok to be promiscuous, but ultimately she agreed that its a good idea. It's protection in case our future husbands have HIV; that was my dad's reasoning. And I agree with him.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

in case our future husbands have HIV . . .

HPV, I think you mean.

[fireflowerlass.livejournal.com]

Hee, yeah. :-P Oops.