Gardasil: To Make a Decision You’ll Need to Study
Recently I was invited to a perfectly civilized barbecue and managed to find myself screaming the words, “how dare you punish your children with cancer because you’re afraid of sex!” Screaming back at me was, “What about the deaths?” Huh? What deaths?
I am, by all accounts, a deeply flawed woman, and had the hostess been anyone other than who she is, she might have decked me. Some of these parenting issues become hot buttons before we realize it. The immunization debates rankle many. I live in a neighborhood where illegal immigrants with unknown backgrounds routinely care for young children. I see childhood vaccines as prudent. I understand waiting a few extra months, but skipping them altogether seems foolhardy to me.
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My daughter is nine. I have two years to come up with a decision regarding Gardasil. There have been studies but how do you read a study? I see that there have been deaths within a certain time frame of Gardasil having been administered, but have the deaths been linked to Gardasil? Since we already know I’m a horrible lunch guest, can I remind you that people die every day?
Google Scholar is a good starting point to do your research. In order for a study to be meaningful the sample size must be quite large. One reaction in a hundred isn’t particularly meaningful, but 1,000 reactions in 100,000 is a meaningful 1%. Who administered the study? Drug companies would clearly show bias, they have no good reason to publish studies contrary to their business model. Was there a double blind control group? Typically papers worth reading are peer reviewed and, let’s face it, all universities are not created equal.
I hope you’re not too disappointed that today I’m presenting more questions than answers. I don’t have the answers for this one, but I do have the luxury of time. I’ve got two years minimum and a few more if I like. I want to know what you are doing, or plan to do. Please comment or write your own post and leave a note in the comments. I’ll read it, I promise.
Because even though I’m an easily baited asshat when I’ve had a glass of wine, I’m a voracious reader and quite in awe of my readers. Share the knowledge.
Possibly related posts:
The Vaccine Book
Jessica Gottlieb is raising two children in Los Angeles, and she writes about it at her blog. This is an original post to EcoChildsPlay.
My cousin is a pediatrician specializing in adolescent medicine and she’s discussed the studies with me. Apparently some of the deaths that occurred were for reasons that were not causal links to the gardisil. It’s all about reading the fine print of the study, and looking closely at the numbers. She’s a mom to 2 girls and her kids will be getting it. I have boys, but that’s my 2 cents.
My oldest got the vaccine, and I did research it first. I concluded that at this point the risk was worth it. I didn’t do this because I felt I needed to protect her should she choose to become sexually active. I did this because a third of all sexual contact is not by choice. Plus, as with other vaccines, there are risks, and in some cases, death can result. But death and complications can result from HPV too. My middle daughter is 10 and I also have a year to decide I will probably make the same choice. Just my two cents
My personal opinion is that it is ultimately a good thing and a good idea… Eventually. I haven’t seen enough research and I don’t have a daughter, so let me give you my perspective…
I was a careful girl. I was a “good” girl who went a little wild in my college and early post-college days, but I still wasn’t a sleep around slut. That being said, two years ago, I had an abnormal PAP that turned out to be precancerous cells, one step away from cervical cancer. I went through all the procedures and came away free and clear.
The cause? HPV. Who knows where I got it. Heck, even my husband could have been a carrier. If Guardasil protects against the leading causes of HPV (even if it isn’t ALL causes), and therefore protects against one of the leading causes of cervical cancer, then I do not see how it is a bad thing. It isn’t legislating sex. It isn’t carte blanche to go wild and sleep with every guy who looks at you twice. It’s just another way to protect ourselves.
We teach our children to do the right things at home and give them the tools and protection they need to venture out into the world. And we pray we’ve done a good job.
There was a large article on the front page of the NYT about the vaccine last week…
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/health/21vaccine.html
I think that it’s a personal decision that each parent and their child should make, but I do scoff at the idea that somehow the vaccine will be somehow “okaying” sex. I think it was Bill Maher who said, when you get your kid a tetanus shot, they don’t go out looking for the first rusty nail to step on! That said, I do think that boys should be getting the vaccine as well - to often we pathologize girls’ bodies, as if they’re giving themselves STDs.