Merck and Perry sitting in a tree...

[James]

having read this thread, i conclude that there are two problems:

1) the fact it's being forced

2) suspect/lack of scientific study on effects of drug


At least I think anyway, please correct me if I'm wrong. This came up in an earlier thread regarding New Hampshire making the drug available to all girls, and most people thought it would be a good idea for it to be available and mandatory for all girls to have it.

So is that it? Or is it something else?

[squeezle]

a vaccine that prevents a virus that causes cancer IS a good thing, but only making it mandatory for girls is the part that throws up a huge red flag for me. both males and females get and transmit the virus, so why not make it mandatory for both males and females as is the case with all other mandatory vaccines (i.e. polio, measles, mumps, chickenpox, and, for a while, smallpox - i still have the scar from my smallpox vaccine). it is better medicine to give the vaccine to as many people as possible so that you can reach a level of 'heard immunity' (in epidemiological terms) more rapidly.
another think that raises a caution flag is the newness of the vaccine and the lack of long term research. this ties back into the singling out of females for the vaccine. to give the new vaccine women but not to men speaks to our society's gender inequalities and willingness to devalue women. and for a governor that has shown no respect for women in the past to do this "good thing" on behalf of the "weaker sex" is cause for pause.

squeez "takes off flannel shirt and shaves armpits" le

[James]

Ok, so I see his motives. He's secretly hoping that it kills off the females so he can have all the boys to himself.

Seriously though, those are very good points. Has this drug had any independent testing done on it at all? Because if it hasn't, I don't care what it cures, the risks could severely outweight it. And yeah, Merck is not insurance to me that it's for the welfare of the common man (or woman in this case).

[Irock]

This came up in an earlier thread regarding New Hampshire making the drug available to all girls, and most people thought it would be a good idea for it to be available and mandatory for all girls to have it.

So is that it? Or is it something else?

I thought the differences were:

1. NH made it available free.
2. NH didn't require it.

If I misunderstood on those two points, that's my bad. But that's where I think the differences are.

[Irock]

I remember hearing recently that many drugs were often not tested extensively on children, noot only because the idea of testing drugs on kids pisses people off but because it's often assumed that whatever is safe for adults is safe for children, only in smaller doses -and I would guess in most cases this is true. But when it's not true, they can have completely unexpected sidee effects. It makes me wonder how thoroughly the vaccine was tested on pre-pubecent girls.

[Rebecca]

p.s. "most" ovarian cancer isn't caused by HPV, just a significant percent. genetics is a bigger factor.

According to the American Cancer Society, "Almost all (>99 percent) cervical cancers are related to HPV."

Not all HPV leads to cervical cancer, but all cervical cancer is caused by HPV.

The ACS is also strongly in favor of the vaccine, and trials are currently being done in to determine if the vaccine is equally safe in boys.

I'm still not sure what to think of this. At first my reaction was "GREAT!" but there are definitely some suspicious motives involved. I think making it available for free would have been a little easier to swallow.

[James]

I think making it available for free would have been a little easier to swallow.

Ahh...now here we go. That's a HUGE red flag to me, if it's a mandatory for a certain set of the population but it's not free...did the smallpox vaccine cost anything back in the day?

[Tracy]

These are the things I find interesting from the website that Justin posted for the CDC. http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/

...Human papillomavirus is the name of a group of viruses that includes more than 100 different strains or types. More than 30 of these viruses are sexually transmitted...



This is from the link for specific information regarding the vaccine.

The quadrivalent vaccine, Gardasil®, protects against four HPV types (6,11,16,18 ), which are responsible for 70% of cervical cancers and 90% of genital warts.

...The duration of vaccine protection is unclear. Current studies (with five-year followup) indicate that the vaccine is effective for at least five years...

The private sector list price of the vaccine is $119.75 per dose (about $360 for full series).



And then there's this that I don't understand since they just said that 6, 11, 16 and 18 account for 70% of cervical cancers. Does that mean that 6 & 11 are only responsible for genital warts?

A bivalent HPV vaccine is in the final stages of clinical testing in females. This vaccine would protect against the two types of HPV (16,18 ) that cause 70% of cervical cancers.


I'd rather wait before making it mandatory and I agree that males should be required to get it if females are. Should the goal be preventing cervical cancer or eliminating the virus - like smallpox? (Of course, I don't know if that's even a possibility.)

I am not anti-immunization but among the scariest events of my life to date were taking my children in for their first immunizations.

[Dogatron]

These are the things I find interesting from the website that Justin posted for the CDC. http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/

...Human papillomavirus is the name of a group of viruses that includes more than 100 different strains or types. More than 30 of these viruses are sexually transmitted...



This is from the link for specific information regarding the vaccine.

The quadrivalent vaccine, Gardasil®, protects against four HPV types (6,11,16,18 ), which are responsible for 70% of cervical cancers and 90% of genital warts.

...The duration of vaccine protection is unclear. Current studies (with five-year followup) indicate that the vaccine is effective for at least five years...

The private sector list price of the vaccine is $119.75 per dose (about $360 for full series).



And then there's this that I don't understand since they just said that 6, 11, 16 and 18 account for 70% of cervical cancers. Does that mean that 6 & 11 are only responsible for genital warts?

A bivalent HPV vaccine is in the final stages of clinical testing in females. This vaccine would protect against the two types of HPV (16,18 ) that cause 70% of cervical cancers.


I'd rather wait before making it mandatory and I agree that males should be required to get it if females are. Should the goal be preventing cervical cancer or eliminating the virus - like smallpox? (Of course, I don't know if that's even a possibility.)

I am not anti-immunization but among the scariest events of my life to date were taking my children in for their first immunizations.

it's a good job this forum gets spammed to shit with pharmacy bots. Surely one of them has the cure.

[Irock]

it's a good job this forum gets spammed to shit with pharmacy bots. Surely one of them has the cure.

Of course we'll never know because Justin deletes them. The Man's always trying to keep us down.

[Rebecca]

So is the mandatory vaccination going to be free at least??

[Sybil]

So is the mandatory vaccination going to be free at least??

According to MSNBC, yes.

Perry also directed state health authorities to make the vaccine available free to girls 9 to 18 who are uninsured or whose insurance does not cover vaccines. In addition, he ordered that Medicaid offer Gardasil to women ages 19 to 21.

As I recall, mandatory vaccines have to be made available to everybody, whether they can pay or not. When my kids needed immunizations for school, I took advantage of the public health clinics whenever I could - there was a nominal charge, 5 or 10 bucks I think. If you're on welfare and/or Medicaid, it's just free.

Sybil

[KathrynTheGreat]

I think everyone's forgetting about the tried and true form of prevention for Human papillomavirus: joining a convent. In the words of Mother Teresa, "A prayer a day keeps the genital warts away."

[mere1975]

In the words of Mother Teresa, "A prayer a day keeps the genital warts away."

I also use prayer to prevent pregnancy.

- Mere "so far, 100% effective!" 1975

[Rebecca]

On NPR this morning, I heard part of Perry's State of the State address, and he said that parents would be allowed to opt-out of the vaccination requirement if they chose to do so.

So it doesn't really seem much different from New Hampshire's program, except that it will reach a much larger group of people.