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.
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:
Jessica Gottlieb is raising two children in Los Angeles, and she writes about it at her blog. This is an original post to EcoChildsPlay.
ABC news did a story on this vaccine the other night, and the AMA is now saying that it needs more studying and should not be given out freely to everyone anymore. As usual, the drug companies & FDA pushed it through without enough studies, except this time the AMA is not in agreement. Between the cases of paralysis to outbreaks of genital warts, it is something I would not make my daughter get…if I had one. Interesting stuff…
ABC link
my daughter will not be getting the Guaradsil vaccine. I do not believe that it is safe, or that the benefits of it outweigh the risks.
There’s only a certain percentage of HPV-causing bugs that it kills. Plus, if HPV is transmitted by men, and you are only vaccinating women, then you are missing a whole vector and in the end it becomes ‘not enough to make a difference’ in the long run.
Just my humble opinion. YMMV
twoluvcats; HPV isn’t a “bug”. The V is for virus. It only prevents against certain strains of HPV.
I don’t have a daughter, but am too old to get Gardasil. But a lot of the arguments by people who are vehemently against this vaccination have nothing to do with young womens’ health–they have to do with the vaccine somehow encouraging said young women to have copious amounts of unprotected sex, which is another example of parts of the population that believe that women should not have control over their own health or that the patriarchy knows better than a woman and her doctor.
I agree that more research needs to be done, and this vaccination is not a panacea for women’s health. But if it can prevent women from even a small percentage of the existing strains, what is the harm in getting it? Even if it only protects against four of the strains, that’s four less than you have to worry about.
As a parent of a girl I’m not worried about this vaccine encouraging casual/unsafe sex. My main concerns are the possible/unknown long term effects of the vaccine. I think I would have more confidence in my daughter save guarding her health/body than this vaccine.
As a mother of daughters I can’t really understand anyone who would argue that getting your kid vaccinated will encourage sex. (and I’m against it before marriage)
As someone who has HPV I am glad I don’t have to make this decision for my kids just yet and can wait for more studies. I’d definitely wait as it is. It just isn’t comprehensive enough at this point to really outweigh the risks. And before anyone jumps on me, I know FULLY the cost of HPV.
What I’d really love the medical community to do is find a way to test men for this…
Interesting topic. My husband I were discussing Gardasil last week after seeing a commercial for it while playing with our newborn baby girl. Having two boys before we hadn’t given it much thought, but now it’s something to think about.
I really don’t think this vaccine will encourage her to have sex, I just don’t really get that argument. I am concerned about the long term safety of it, but I hope that in the coming years there will be more studies and more information so that I can make a good decision!
The immunize or not immunize debate is always good for a fight. We know from conversations we have had about our first son. It has left my wife not talking to one of her sisters for a while.
Ultimately it is your choice for your family and not mine to tell you what to do. Keep in mind however that Vaccinations are big money for the drug companies. BIG MONEY. It can sustain them for years and because they are “required” for your health and you will be made to feel guilty and like a bad parent if you don’t do them. Like the BPA decision this week, if big money wants it to get approval, it will get approval.
Consider everything carefully. Then make an EDUCATED decision for your family. Don’t just do what you are told.
My daughters will not be getting it at this time. I was just waiting for the “adverse reports” to show up in great enough numbers for doctor’s to stop pushing it and it looks like that day is arriving. I’m not one to jump on ANY drug companies bandwagon of advertising scare tactic hysteria.
I am in my late twenties and unfortunately I have already received the “prevention” vaccine. It’s Big Pharma people at its finest and I fell victim to this foolishness before I knew any better. We are being used as human guinea pigs and we will suffer the consequences years down the line. It’s big business and with 3 shots, priced at $360 a pop…you do the math!
DID YOU KNOW? There are numerous FDA documents and clinical studies to show that HPV vaccines are not only ineffective, they may actually be dangerous!
The lying, money hungry FDA has stated, “HPV is not associated with cervical cancer.”
As revealed in this special report,
http://www.naturalnews.com/Report_HPV_Vaccine_0.html,
the Gardasil vaccine has been linked to a 44.6% increase in precancerous lesions in some women, raising serious doubts over the sensibility of mandatory vaccination policies.
Wow, you guys are amazing. I’d have to take note of a few things. I read the natural news report and I would say it’s informative but it clearly has an agenda, further some of the numbers might be a little inaccurate.
I love people’s opinions but when they’re presented as hard science, I get nervous. When you call the FDA names, you lose credibility, may I suggest letting the reader come to their own conclusion?
This isn’t a bug, it’s a virus and it stays with people for a lifetime.
It’s a women’s issue because women get cervical cancer.
Oh, and then we die from it.
So, I’m not being glib, I’m horrified by the thought of my daughter leaving her childhood behind, it’s so very precious, but as I prepare for her 10th birthday I realize the clock is running out and we need to make a decision about this shot.
You must have opinions. I’ve had coffee with y’all, I know you care about this one.
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.
As an oncologist, I think getting your children vaccinated against high risk HPV strands is the single most important thing you can do for them. More and more cancers are being shown to have causal links to HPV. In addition to cervical cancer, HPV is also associated with vaginal and vulvar cancer in women and anal and oropharyngeal cancer (tonsil, base of tongue, soft palate) in both men and women. All children regardless of their gender should get vaccinated. It may ultimately save their lives.