Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said Thursday he will sign legislation requiring all sixth-grade girls to get vaccinated against a virus that could lead to cervical cancer.
Days after saying he had qualms about making the vaccine mandatory, Kaine predicted that the law is "going to be a model for other states to follow " and emphasized that it will be easy for parents to opt out.
There's no mention in the article about why parents might want to opt out or how much the vaccines will cost taxpayers. It seems to me that this is a bandwagon everyone wants to jump on because they think it makes them look "compassionate," as opposed to "reckless."
UPDATE: According to this article, the chairman of the panel that recommended the new HPV vaccine for young girls warned lawmakers not to make it mandatory.
Dr. Jon Abramson, chairman of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's advisory committee on immunization practices (ACIP), also said he and panel members told Merck & Co., the drug Gardasil's maker, not to lobby state lawmakers to require the vaccine for school attendance.
"I told Merck my personal opinion that it shouldn't be mandated," Dr. Abramson told The Washington Times. "And they heard it from other committee members."
Dr. Abramson said he opposes mandating Gardasil, which prevents the cervical-cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV), because the sexually transmitted HPV is not a contagious disease like measles and he is not sure states can afford to inoculate all students.
"The vaccines out there now are for very communicable diseases. A child in school is not at an increased risk for HPV like he is measles," Dr. Abramson said.
In addition, Dr. Abramson said a discussion about making the vaccine mandatory should not be had until states show the money is available to vaccinate every child, adding, "I don't see that yet."
The story goes on to point out that there's also some controversy about giving the vaccine to girls so young.
Middle-school girls inoculated with the breakthrough vaccine will be no older than 18 when they pass Gardasil's five-year window of proven effectiveness -- more than a decade before the typical cancer patient contracts HPV, The Washington Times reported last week.
Infectious disease specialists and cancer pathologists say the incubation period for HPV becoming cancer is 10 to 15 years -- meaning the average cervical cancer patient, who is 47, contracted the virus in her 30s and would not be protected by Gardasil taken as a teen.
Dr. Abramson said the panel thinks the vaccine will last for at least 10 years. Even if it provides 10 years of protection, it would still leave girls given the inoculation in the sixth grade vulnerable during their late 20s and early 30s, when most cervical-cancer patients contract HPV. At that point, another round of Gardasil would be necessary.
The vaccine has only been tested for about five years, meaning there's no data on long-term effectiveness or side effects. I'm leary of mandating a vaccine for a non-communicable disease to girls who are still growing. If adults wish to get this vaccine, that can be their choice.
UPDATE x2: Parents of three Texas girls have filed suit over Texas Governor Rick Perry's executive order mandating the HPV vaccine.
UPDATE x3: According to this article, a report from the Centers for Disease Control estimate that 20 million U.S. women have some form of HPV.
Too bad that this has to be politicized since I can see why people would want to be cautious before taking the vaccine. At the same time, history proves that the average citizen does not always act in their own best interest in this area. (E.g., Pasteur was treated like an idiot and even after it was proven that bacteria could cause illness, people rejected the idea outright at first. “How can a little ol’ bug you can’t even see kill a big ol’ human? Impossible I tell you!”)
ReplyDeleteI agree that maybe this shouldn’t be mandated.
But keep in mind that vaccines are not even really drugs. They only function to alert the immune system to be on the watch for similar invaders. So from that perspective, they’re much safer than regular drugs which affect your system. (One caveat – I’m no expert about this, so I could be mistaken. But I’m sure that’s how vaccines work.)
But how about some real research on this Sharon? Why don’t you find out how many vaccines (as opposed to all drugs in general) have actually caused health problems? I bet there are fewer than you suspect.
My feeling about this is that the states should put out a big information campaign on the risks of HPV for teenagers, then offer low-cost vaccines for those that want it. It would be less intrusive on the parent-child relationship and put the onus on parents to deal with this.
ReplyDeleteAs for how many vaccines cause health problems, one is too many if it is your child affected. That's why I think it is better to persuade parents to get the vaccine rather than mandate it.
I have to disagree Sharon. If 20 million women were spared the cancer, but there was only an adverse reaction with one child, it would be worth it.
ReplyDelete