HPV Vaccine: Yes or No?
Hello Twitter Moms,
My name is Sabriya Rice, a producer with the CNN Health and Wellness unit. I'm currently working with our Senior Medical Correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen on her series Empowered Patient. This week we're working on a segment about whether or not to give your daughter the HPV vaccine. We'd love to hear from Twitter Moms about your experiences. We’re hoping to do a segment taking a look at the many questions and concerns parents have about Gardasil. Share your story, and help other parents decide what to do. Feel free to send us an email to empoweredpatient@cnn.com. Thanks for your time.
My name is Sabriya Rice, a producer with the CNN Health and Wellness unit. I'm currently working with our Senior Medical Correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen on her series Empowered Patient. This week we're working on a segment about whether or not to give your daughter the HPV vaccine. We'd love to hear from Twitter Moms about your experiences. We’re hoping to do a segment taking a look at the many questions and concerns parents have about Gardasil. Share your story, and help other parents decide what to do. Feel free to send us an email to empoweredpatient@cnn.com. Thanks for your time.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Shan on -
As a Cervical Cancer Survivor (The lesions were found when I was 11 weeks pregnant) and a mother of a 4 year girl, I wholeheartedly endorse the HPV vaccine. I wish it was available when I was a girl, then maybe I wouldn't have suffered through what I did and lost my ability to ever carry another baby to term.
I have heard all the Christian Right reasons against this vaccine, but although I am a very strong Christian, I don't agree with their reasoning. The HPV vaccine does not give a free pass to promiscuity, as they are asserting. Anyone who thinks that hasn't done any research. And even if a girl keeps herself chaste, it does not guarantee that her husband did the same, even if he says he did.
What most of the detractors fail to realize is that this is the FIRST ever vaccination against CANCER. I would venture to guess that if HPV had more of a negative affect on men, that there would not be so much controversy against it. But as it is, men are generally carriers of this disease/virus and suffer no real ill effects from it, except in very rare cases. Some women contract this virus and nevr know it or have any complications from it. Others, like myself, get Cervical Cancer and lose their ability to bear children. Some women even die from it.
So yes, the second my daughter is old enough, she will be getting this vaccination. I want to give her the chance that I was never given.
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Permalink Reply by LaSara on -
WOW! I was basically ready to get my kids the vaccine within the next year. I have no problem with it on the level of morals. But I just looked up the medical side of the controversy, and as much as I wish I felt it were safe, I just can't be sure. So, I'll be waiting to get my daughters vaccinated until there's more safety reliability in the vaccine itself.
-LaSara
http://www.lasarafirefox.com
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Permalink Reply by Forum 4 Women on -
My daughter is only 4, so I may wait until she is older. It's so new, but would be interesting to know what the long term affects of the vaccine are.
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Permalink Reply by Victoria Vieira on -
I could care less about the "morality" arguments - I have concerns about the *safety* of this vaccine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_13plsrydPY
21 deaths. Nearly 10,000 reported adverse reactions. There is no way my kids are getting this vaccine. No way.
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Permalink Reply by Rebecca Doll on -
Shan - after reading your blog post I understand why you are so adamant about getting your daughter vaccinated.
I had CIN3 pre-cancerous cells of the cervix at 23. The doctors found them after a normal pap-smear just 3 months early. I new something was wrong because I was spotting and went to the doctors so many times until they did another Pap. Both the GP and the GYN who did the colposcopy thought that the tests would come back all clear, but they didn't. I strongly believe that the extreme stress (grieving for a stillborn baby born at 42 wks) I was under at the time triggered the abnormal cells and that if I didn't catch it in time it would have progressed to Cervical Cancer.
I had a great GYN and discussed my options with her and had laser surgery to remove my abnormal cells as an outpatient. I could have done repeat colposcopies and cone biopsies but I didn't want to wait and see if it went away. I had follow up paps every 6 months for a few years followed by yearly. Other than some polyps I have not had any other issues in 13 years and have had 2 more children.
This happened in Australia in the '90s and to be honest after living in the US for 8 years I think doctors here pay a lot more attention to breast changes than they do to cervical changes.
I am on the fence about the vacinne as there is a good chance my daughter already has the disease. If I can have her tested first and she doesn't already have it then I MAY consider giving her the vaccine.
This is not a cancer vaccine, it is a vaccine to prevent a handful of HPV strains known to develop into Cervical cancer. Women will still need to have regular pap smears and both men and women will continue to need Oral cancer screenings. HPV can also cause Oral cancers in both men and women.
All vaccines come with a risk and representing Gardasil as a cancer vaccination might make some parents think that it is safe, when there have been some serious adverse reactions.
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Permalink Reply by Dr. Jean Layton on -
The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) today released a new analysis of the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reports of serious health problems following HPV vaccination (Merck's GARDASIL) during the last six months of 2006. Out of the 385 individual GARDASIL adverse event reports made to VAERS, two-thirds required additional medical care and about one-third of all reports were for children 16-years-old and under, with nearly 25 percent of those children having received simultaneously one or more of the 18 vaccines that Merck did not study in combination with GARDASIL. NVIC is calling on the FDA and CDC to warn parents and doctors that GARDASIL should not be combined with other vaccines and that young girls should be monitored for at least 24 hours for syncopal (collapse/fainting) episodes that can be accompanied by seizure activity, as well as symptoms of tingling, numbness and loss of sensation in the fingers and limbs, all of which should be reported to VAERS immediately.
"Because Merck only studied GARDASIL in fewer than 1200 girls under age 16 in pre-licensure trials, it is critical that doctors and parents be made aware of the nature of the initial adverse event reports coming into VAERS and that they report serious health problems after vaccination when they occur," said NVIC President Barbara Loe Fisher. "There are twice as many children collapsing and four times as many children experiencing tingling, numbness and loss of sensation after getting a GARDASIL vaccination compared to those getting a Tdap (tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis) vaccination. There have been reports of facial paralysis and Guillain-Barre Syndrome. And doctors who give GARDASIL in combination with other vaccines are basically conducting an experiment on their young patients because Merck has not published any safety data for simultaneous vaccination with any vaccine except hepatitis B vaccine."
According to NVIC's report, a majority of GARDASIL adverse event reports to VAERS involved those who suffered fever, nausea, headache or pain; 14 percent were for syncopal episodes with or without neurological signs; and 8 percent experienced tingling, numbness and loss of sensation, facial paralysis or Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Although adverse event reports to VAERS do not prove causation, they can provide an early warning sign that a new vaccine may be causing health problems that could be important. For example, reports to VAERS of bowel blockage (intussusception) in babies following receipt of Merck's Rota Teq (rotavirus) vaccine prompted the FDA to issue a public warning to doctors and consumers on Feb. 13.
"About 4 reports per day were filed with VAERS in December 2006 for the HPV vaccine," said NVIC Health Policy Analyst Vicky Debold, RN, Ph.D. "Some of these girls are being injured when they collapse after getting the vaccine and others are complaining of neurological symptoms that should not be ignored. Doctors and nurses should take note of the patient safety issues related to giving this vaccine. Giving GARDASIL simultaneously with any of the 18 vaccines Merck did not study in combination is not an evidence-based guideline and should involve informed consent and a signed patient release. To avoid unnecessary injuries, teenage girls should be vaccinated laying down, not be left unattended and probably should not walk or drive themselves home from the doctor's office after they get vaccinated."
NVIC also found that there were several VAERS reports of HPV infection, genital warts and cervical lesions after GARDASIL vaccination. It is unknown if the girls were infected with HPV before being vaccinated or if GARDASIL failed to protect them. One case of HPV infection occurred in a 22-year-old girl who had participated in a Merck GARDASIL trial in 2003 when she had shown "strong conversion to all 4 vaccine types" but "tested positive for high risk HPV" in 2006, according to the VAERS report.
In a May 18, 2006 Background Document for the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRPBAC), the FDA staff stated that Merck clinical trial data indicated there may be "the potential for GARDASIL to enhance cervical disease in subjects who had evidence of persistent infection with vaccine-relevant HPV types prior to vaccination." Girls and women now being vaccinated with GARDASIL are not routinely being tested for active HPV infection before vaccination.
The FDA staff also questioned whether the "HPV types not contained in the vaccine might offset the overall clinical effectiveness of the vaccine." There are more than 15 types of HPV associated with cervical cancer but GARDASIL only contains HPV types 16 and 18. It is unknown whether non-vaccine HPV types will become more dominant in the future. However, there are indications this could occur because some of the seven strains of pneumococcal contained in Wyeth's PREVNAR vaccine, which was recommended by the CDC for universal use in all babies in 2000, have been replaced by some of the more than 80 other pneumococcal strains not contained in the vaccine.
VAERS is a passive surveillance system and depends upon voluntary reporting of serious health problems following vaccination, even though safety provisions in the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 mandated that health care providers report vaccine adverse events. There have been estimates that fewer than 10 percent, even as low as 1 to 4 percent, of adverse events which occur after prescription drug or vaccine use are ever reported to government adverse event reporting systems.
"If only 1 to 4 percent of all adverse events associated with GARDASIL vaccination are being reported to VAERS, there could have been up to 38,000 health problems after GARDASIL vaccination in 2006 which were never reported," said Fisher. "How many girls are really having short-term health problems associated with getting this vaccine that could turn into long-term neurological or immune system disorders? And how many will go on to develop fertility problems, cancer or damage to their genes, all of which Merck admits in its product insert that it has not studied at all? We just don't know enough to be mandating GARDASIL for anyone, much less vulnerable 11 to 12 year old girls entering puberty."
Source:
National Vaccine Information Center
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Permalink Reply by DPopTart on -
If it had been up to me, the middle child would NOT have received Gardasil; but I'm "only" step-mom and so not capable of making any real medical decisions. I argued & debated with dad, mom & the doctor, believe me; and I blogged about it. And I'm very concerned about the consequences.
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Permalink Reply by Empowered Patient on -
Thanks to all of you for your responses and emails. We'll keep you posted on our report!
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Permalink Reply by Lori Wildrick on
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When my daughter went in for her 12-year-old checkup, I was advised that she needed a variety of booster shots. He also recommended Gardisil. I was out of practice on checking into vaccines; I had been very diligent when my children were very young. He highly recommended it. I thought, okay. She got five shots that day. When she ran a high fever the next day, I did some Internet research and what I found scared me to my core. I did not take her back for the next in the three-shot series; and I continue to hope and pray that the initial shot will not cause any future adverse reactions. I feel a great deal of guilt for not checking into this before I gave my permission.
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Permalink Reply by DPopTart on
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I don't think parents should feel guilty; we trust the professionals to advise as much as administer the shots. When the professionals are ignorant or spoon-fed by greedy &/or corrupt companies, we are victimized.
I did bring the scanty testing and rushed to market nepotism with the pediatrician, but she was still high on the vaccine; so it was given. I'm very concerned about both the immediate and long-term risks -- as well as the possible corruption involved in pushing this through & making it mandatory for our young women by an administration with the worst record for women's health care.
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Permalink Reply by Henrietta Newman on -
This topic is one that's been on my mind lately as well. I am a cervical cancer survivor, I had bleeding when 3 months pregnant w/ my daughter in 2000 at the age of 21. I didn't find out it was cancer until early 2001, after too much crap to comment about here. After chemo, external and internal radiation treatments, I am still (Thank God) cancer free. An older cousin had it at the same time and she passed away a few years ago, after being in and out of remission it spread. Another cousin had it at a younger age than I but went on to have a child! Luckily I had my 2 children at a young age because the treatments killed my ovaries.
My point is that this topic is something I worry about on a daily basis for my daughter. I worry because I was pregnant with her when I had cervical cancer. I worry that the vaccine could be dangerous. I worry about making the right choice for my daughter! She will be 9 this year and this is a huge concern for me. At this point in time I do not feel that the benefits outweigh the negative things I have heard about Gardasil. I believe in my heart that we should wait until we know for certain that it is safe. This shot only protects against 4 strains of HPV, I don't think it's worth the risk. I just hope I'm right.
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Permalink Reply by Darcy on -
My daughter is only 4 so there is no need to make a decision about the vaccine at this time, but if she was older I would not have her get it. I feel that we do not know all of the side effects of the vaccine and the long term risk enough to subject my child to the vaccine.
My friend's ex-husband took their daughters and got the vaccine without her approval while they were having visitation. WOW!!! I was shocked that people just say ok when they are introduced to a new vaccine.
Off topic - my children will not be getting the H1N1 vaccine either, too much is unknown.
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