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Lee Trask is an advocate for women dealing with issues of infertility and miscarriage Having struggled through more than six years of infertility three miscarriages and high-risk pregnancy she is now happy raising her two…
FAST FACTS
The Human papillomavirus Virus, or HPV, comes in many forms, (over 100!), but there are 4 strains of the virus that account for a majority of cervical cancer, and genital warts. It is the most common sexually transmitted disease, and it infects the mucus membranes and skin. While most cases of HPV are documented in women, it can infect men as well, although it is not as common.
Now many of us have come in contact with the virus, perhaps in our teens or 20’s. In most cases, the immune system will overcome the virus within about two years, without ever causing symptoms or trouble. However, for some women (and it is not understood why), the virus is not killed off by the body, and remains in the cervical area. In these cases, abnormal cells begin to develop. These abnormal cells can develop into cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is not passed down genetically; rather it is caused by the HPV virus. (This virus can also cause cancers of the vagina, anus and penis, although cervical cancer is the most common). There are usually no symptoms of these cancers until they are in very advanced stages. (For more information on this virus please see the CDC website:www.cdc.gov/STD/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm#Whatis)
There is currently a vaccine on the market which was designed to protect women against the four most common strains of this virus, marketed by Merck under the name Gardasil. It has been recommended for girls as young as 11, and some states have been considering making the vaccine a prerequisite for entering school. However, there have been reports of deaths and serious illnesses directly attributed to the vaccine, A public interest group called Judicial Watch has uncovered reports through the Freedom of Information Act that at least ten fatalities have been reported to the FDA since September 2007. Judicial Watch believes the number of deaths is at least 18, possibly 20.
In addition, 140 reports of “serious adverse reactions” (27 of which are classified as life threatening), 10 miscarriages and 6 instances of the “debilitating” Guillain-Barre Syndrome have been documented since January of 2008. The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, (VAERS) has 8,864 cases associated with the vaccine, more than double from the previous year. For the full report:www.judicialwatch.org/gardasil
A young woman, Amanda, who is now 18, received the vaccine and developed an autoimmune myofascitis that has left her in chronic debilitating pain. Both of Amanda’s parents are doctors, and didn’t think twice about having giving their child the Gardasil vaccine when it became available. Her father spoke of his regret:"as the father of three girls, I've had to ask myself why I let my eldest one get an unproven vaccine against a few strains of a nonlethal virus that can be dealt with in many more effective ways. It's not like they are at high risk. It was the regrettable acceptance of the vaccine party line that [mis]led me. "www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/07/08/primarysource/entry4240485.shtml
As with all new drugs, treatments and vaccines, it is the first wave of the population who are the guinea pigs. Until these treatments are applied to the general population in large numbers over a period of time, the real side effects are not always known, (for example the arthritis medication Vioxx, may have caused between 89,00 and 140,000 deaths before being pulled off the pharmacy shelves). Always consider the amount of time a treatment has been on the market, and do your homework on side effects both short term and long term. And, definitely gather information from sources other than the manufacturer, whose literature will always tell you their drug or vaccine is a miracle cure for what ails you.
For a Q&A about HPV from our own DrOrrange, go to
dailystrength.org/blog/260-answers-your-human-papilloma
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Displaying comments 22-3 of 22
Got a Question?
When a mother breastfeeds her newborn baby her milk contains antibodies to protect the baby against germs in his/her environment. A mere two hours after being exposed to a pathogen the mother's milk contains antibodies to that particular germ! A vaccine is simply an artificial way of doing the same thing. The antibodies are delivered in the shot.
A vaccine gives your body the ability to recognize and destroy a germ that is NOT in you environment, which your mother never had the chance to give you protection from. How could this possibly be a bad thing?
If you are still concerned about vaccines, please ask your doctor to explain further what a blessing they are to our society. Babies used to often die before their first birthday. This is now rare and vaccines are to be thanked for it!
This disease is not "easy to treat". Easy for the doctor, maybe! After each surgery I had six weeks of cramping and bleeding and oozing as a new cervix grew in. Once I left my husband, the cancer did not return. I'm now cancer-free for 10 years.
I am definitely one of the lucky ones. The American Cancer Society says In 2008 an estimated 3,870 women in the US will die of cervical cancer, and around 11,000 new cases are expected to be diagnosed. You stated that possibly 20 deaths have been caused by this new vaccine and 140 women have had "serious adverse reactions". The numbers highly favor the vaccine in terms of risk.
In Australia they are vaccinating ALL young girls at school and as many young women who have left school are having this vaccine. As I teach at University I have seen so many young girls who have had this vaccine come in to Lectures incredibly sick and have had to send most back home as I felt that they are too unwell to stay. Further it has been found that because many young women feel that because of the vaccine they are now 'protected' against cancer, they are foregoing their PAP smears! and the government has had to implement an awareness campaign (at huge cost) to inform young women that they still must have smears....
I would NOT recommend this vaccine to anyone! Given time it may be proven to be safe but I feel the danger outweighs the benefits at the moment
EVERY vaccine, all the way back to Polio vaccines have had some deaths related to them, and even more injuries. You can kill a child with benadryl and cough medicine too, and that happens much much more often than with vaccines.
Here's the deal: These same arguments were abound when schools started requiring Hep A/B vaccines (the "oh just teach abstinence" etc etc arguments). BUT, when push came to shove, the vaccine saved me from Hepatitis that I was exposed to from bad food at work.
When my daughter is old enough, she will receive Gardasil vaccines because it could protect her from cervical cancer. I've known way way too many MARRIED women who get HPV from their husbands to possibly think that abstinence until marriage would protect her.
She is now infertile. This is a horrible result of taking a preventitive measure against the POSSIBLE risk of cancer.
I'd like to know how many other girls had this "side effect".
When my children were young there was a new vaccine every time I took them to the pediatrician. I eventually got so sick of them that I started refusing all of them. There is no way that a new vaccine every year can be healthy for our children.
We can not prevent every disease. Is it worth the risk of a vaccine to attempt to prevent another disease? I am beginning to wonder if this is really to benefit society or benefit the vaccine manufacturers.
Thankfully I'm one of the few young people who would take the positive route proffered by #5. Having researched the serious adverse reactions reported, I feel comfortable getting the third shot. I had no side effects with the first, some localized soreness for two days with the second. I will continue researching in the next two months before my next shot is due. But on the whole, as a sexually active young woman, this vaccine is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
Dr O.
so, why not teach abstenence?? and, since men are the carriers, why not find a vaccine to treat THEM??
women are generally the ones who have to take care of most sexual protections, whether it be birth control or, now, STD's. let's put some responsibility on the males. just a few thoughts.....
On the other hand... It is true that sometimes the adverse affects are not known until more people have undergone that treatment.
And on yet another hand... In some cases some of use who have an adverse effects scream for recall when we were a very small subset of the population.
In all treatments there is risk to having and not having it. We need to know that Doctors aren't perfect. Often we have no way of knowing what is and isn't going to work with our bodies until it is done.
I have already had both vaccines,and I can tell you my mother took me and couldn't tell me what the HELL they were even for."Some sort of...women's thing".People hear there's a new vaccine out and they automatically think that it's required.
I see no reason why the people shouldn't be informed.Maybe I was not affected negatively by this vaccine...or maybe I was and just don't know it yet.However, some people were and others wanting to get their daughters on this vaccination should be AWARE.It's not like the makers of Guardasil are just going to write that right into their pamphlet like so.
"
-4 strains of HPV can cause cervical cancer
-cancer may form in your vagina, penis or anus
-might...kill you, among other things"
Everyone knows admitting the fault of any product is not good for business.Why do you think they have all those med commercials say the side effects in a really deep and fast monotone?
I'm glad you posted this Lee.SOMEONE had to share the other side.
In my opinion, the point of your article, as well as the title, is alarmist. At best, it is irresponsible. At worst, it could prove fatal. To highlight the worst-case scenarios, known as statistical outliers, without counter-balancing with the vast majority of routine vaccinations that have the ability to save millions of lives is a reckless use of this medium. The law of Unintended Consequences could play out in the needless suffering and death of more women.
Let's hypothesize with Poster #4, a 20-year old woman from Arizona who has just had the bejeezus scared out of her after reading your post. Rather than running scared into adulthood, she'll seize this opportunity to further research the benefits and possible detriments to this vaccine. Then, after she felt sufficiently informed, she'll tell all of her girl friends what she's learned and urge them to NOT take her word for it, but discover for themselves. In the end, because of this post, a grassroots movement grips the nation's young females in a fervor of enlightenment and they all make the best possible choice based on the information available.
Show of hands that agrees this scenario is likely?
Here's what I predict: She'll stop receiving the vaccine. But, humans are notoriously awful at predicting the future.
We are equally poor at critical thinking. We'd rather believe what a quasi-expert wrote on a blog, forum, or news article (if it's in print in must be true) than actually perform the work of discovering the facts for ourselves.
So, in the spirit of forum discussion (and so I don't pass myself off as a Nelly Naysayer), I challenge all women readers that have received the vaccine to post their completely routine, uneventful, statistically normal experiences right here. Hopefully, it will provide a necessary counterpoint to the alarmist tone of this post.
do I have to recieve the other 2? or can I just stop
because this scares me...alot
This is a tough subject and ongoing studies are in the works but a 10/30/08 article about postlicensure safety monitoring by three national vaccine safety systems indicates that, in the more than 2 years since the human papillomavirus vaccine was licensed, serious adverse events have been rare and have NOT been specifically linked with the vaccine.
Here were some of their conclusions:
1) The CDC advisory committee on immunization practices estimates that more than 20 million doses of the vaccine had been distributed and are under passive surveillance, and more than 375,000 doses are under active surveillance as of August 31
2) Of the more than 10,300 adverse events reported thus far to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), 94% have been nonserious. Most of the adverse event reports to VAERS were consistent with prelicensure trial data.
3) Among the adverse events reported are syncope, dizziness, nausea, Guillain Barré syndrome, venous thromboembolism, and death, according to the CDC
4) Serious adverse events including syncope, venous thromboembolism (VTE), and Guillain Barré syndrome occurred mostly in individuals with other contributing factors. For example, of 18 reports of VTE, 14 were in patients who also used hormonal contraceptives, which are known to increase VTE risk.
5) As for the 17 deaths reported in association with HPV vaccination, no clusters based on patient age, timing of vaccination, or other factors were identified that might hint at a causal relationship
6) The Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment (CISA) Network, a collaboration of six U.S. academic centers that conduct research on adverse events associated with immunizations, has found insufficient evidence to support a causal relationship between HPV vaccination and the reported serious adverse events
7) Likewise, findings of the Vaccine Safety Datalink project, which was established in 1990 to improve the evaluation of vaccine safety through active surveillance and epidemiologic studies, showed that among more than 375,000 doses administered and monitored, no statistically significant risk for any prespecified adverse event (Guillain Barré syndrome, seizures, syncope, anaphylaxis, other allergic reactions, appendicitis, stroke, and VTE) occurred after vaccination.
I recommend it to my patients, Id give it to my girls as well but I also like that we take reports of adverse reactions very seriously and continue to discuss it....
Dr O.