If you're a girl and reading this post, you have probably already gotten the Gardasil vaccine, a vaccine that protects against the most common strains of the HPV virus. However, after reading this article (http://health.usnews.com/blogs/on-women/2009/03/30/is-gardasil-more-effective-in-older-teens.html), I started to question the new product.
Although the government suggests that Gardasil be taken between the ages of 11 and 12, new information may suggest that it should not be taken during the preteen years. Diane Harper, a gynecologist who worked in the Gardasil clinical trials, says that (at the time of the clinical trials) "the vaccine's efficacy hadn't been tested in anyone under age 16, and she wasn't sure whether it even worked in preteens. On the flip side, she also told me that she frequently administered the vaccine to women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, for whom the vaccine is not approved. " There has also been a commossion regarding Gardasil and a disease known as ALS (a degenerative muscle disease). Apparently, two teens developed this disease upon taking Gardasil (and one of the teens was under 16...does this add to the "Gardasil is bad for preteens" argument?), but this could be due to chance/coincidence.
What got me the most interested/shocked in this article was the fact that there is another vaccine out there that has the ability to help women more....and the US is not manufacturing it! A drug known as Cervarix, which is "routinely" (US News) being used in Great Britain, has been known to protect against the top 3 HPV caused cancers (compared to Gardasil, which only protects against the top 2).
Why isn't the US making this vaccine and should it, considering that it is the medicine-mecca of the world? And do you guys think that more trials should be conducted to make sure that Gardasil is safe for preteens? I certainly do!
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Personally, I have not yet received the vaccine, because I am still eligible to receive it for several more years, and because I figured I would wait and see how things go with it. I find this article verry interesting because there has been a lot of controversy surrounding this vaccine. I have heard that in certain regions of the country the gardasil vaccine is mandatory for girls to attend middle school, just like many other vaccine's are mandatory at other grade levels. It's interesting that the government is stepping in and creating these laws about this particular vaccine and now we are beginning to see some adverse side-effects. It seems like it would be more effective to encourage safe sex and abstinance, since the latter is a proven wat not to contract HPV. So, government interference is neccessary. In many aspects of life government regulation is neccessary. However, I feel like they shouldn't force anyone to take a drug that could have negative side-effects, like in the case of these pre-teens developing a condition. But at the same time, it seems like the government should do all that it can to prevent the spread of disease if at all possible. Sorry if I'm rambling!
Wow, I didn't know that the government made it mandatory to take this vaccine in order to go to middle school. That seems rather much, don't you think? I mean, Gardasil has only been available for a short time, so I don't see why it should be clumped with all of the other vaccines that you have to get before entering school. However, Aimee, I want to caution you that the evidence in this article about preteens getting ALS might be a bit iffy. If you read the article, it says that it could just be a coincidence and the girls could have developed the disease from any number of other stimuli.I would be hesitant about these examples, but I wouldn't flat out deny them either.Either way, I thought the article provided some new insight.
Lauren C. Strojny- To be honest I have not received this vaccine. I thought this drug was too new and could have major side affects that could occur in the long run. I really think that not just the pre-teens but the entire drug needs to undergo further study, especially if it can cause disease in younger children.
I dont know what the US is thinking regarding this better treatment that is available in Great Britain I think the US needs to look into this drug and see if the benefits outway gardasil, the government should not have control over drugs that can prevent cancer. Also everytime I turn on the TV I see ads for getting this vaccine that is relatively new I think if the govenment should interfere with anything it should be the ads. The drug is obviously approved but needs more testing.
If doctors tell their patients, or their parents in this case, about a vaccine that will prevent cervical cancer, it's normal that they'll want it. If it's something that's already in the doctor's possession, we assume it's been tested, approved, and ready to be administered. It shows how we unknowingly rely on and expect the government to do things for us in some situations. I don't think we have to worry about Gardasil too much; it seems that a lot of girls have already received the vaccine and no huge warning has been put up. The fact that it is already out in public and is being administered shows that it has been through a lot of testing. Since it's impossible to prove that something is absolutely safe, unless an obvious danger is discovered and proven, more testing of Gardasil won't do much.
I honestly dont think preteens need to worry about a vaccine at such a young age becasue at that time the body is just hitting puberty and the body is undergoing many changes. I feel like a possible cause for this disease is becasue there is some vaccine messing up the still growing sexual parts of a female and do not have time to fully develop. Also the reason why we are not using this new and improved vaccine is becasue the US is too cheap to include it in medicare and it is not even being concidered becasue so far health is not a standard for the United States and as this new vaccine would be free in other countries we just dont have the time and money to start using it.
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