If you’re female, then there’s a good chance that you’ve either heard of or been offered the Gardasil® shot, the human papillomavirus (HPV)-preventive vaccine widely administered in America since 2006. While the targeted population of Gardasil® recipients does not include the entire UC community, the physical and ethical consequences that surround the vaccine may pose reason for concern by any and could considerably affect society beyond those who receive it.
Advertised as means of preventing cervical cancers, cervical abnormalities that could lead to cancer, or genital warts, the vaccine is now routinely recommended by physicians to all 11- and 12-year-old girls, according to the recommendations available on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s Web site. Even if the recipient isn’t sexually active yet, how could any medicine that fights severe symptoms of a sexually transmitted infection (STI) and that’s considered “safe” by the CDC be undesirable? Why wouldn’t you want your self, sister, girlfriend, friend, or anyone else eligible for the vaccine to be protected from a potentially deadly disease if it’s preventable?
Let’s start with the physical ramifications. Between the vaccine’s initial introduction in 2006 and Sept. 1, 2009, the CDC has linked 15,037 adverse events to the shot—such as fever, vomiting, fainting, and seizures—according a Sept. 30 report on their Web site. Of these, 7% were considered serious, encompassing a number of deaths that resulted from viral illness, pulmonary embolism, cardiac events, diabetic ketoacidosis, atypical Guillian Barré Syndrome, juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”), and other unknown causes. Also, an article in Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) entitled, “The Risks and Benefits of HPV Vaccination,” reveals that having not been vastly administered until 2006, the vaccine’s effects that could appear twenty to forty years from now are unknown.
You may be thinking, “True, but every medication has side effects,” and while that may be accurate for many drugs in physical terms, the HPV vaccine also poses a moral dilemma. What exactly is the message being sent to the 11- and 12-year-olds being treated for cervical cancers and genital warts that won’t develop until they become sexually active? At 11, I did NOT have a knowledgeable grasp on a condom’s importance in protecting against STIs, nor was I offered information along these lines—or others, besides that the shot was “safe”—when encouraged to receive it at age 20 by my primary physicians.
Ursinus Wellness Coordinator Denise Walsh explains that Dr. Doghramji, MD, the campus Medical Director, could administer the vaccine with a prescription from one’s physician, and Wellness’ section of UC’s Web site states, “We strongly recommend immunization for HPV.” Wellness, however, offers over 10 different brochures and other print information sources, which not only allow the patient to make an informed decision on vaccination, but also are accompanied by free condoms and stress the importance of protected and responsible sex.
Mary Cantwell, a senior at St. Joseph’s University, notes that because of the school’s Catholic affiliation, “they don’t promote premarital sex, so condoms aren’t offered on campus. Regardless, most of my friends and I refuse the shot because we’ve heard horror stories about it.”
The CDC, Gardasil’s® marketing department, and other government sources who encourage the immunization have no way of knowing how each physician presents the vaccine—with little to no information? with Gardasil® pamphlets, condoms, and a lecture on getting tested for STIs? Additionally, Gardasil’s® Web site is strongly geared toward parents, playing on their concern for their daughters by interweaving statements such as, “You do everything you can for your daughter…it’s not too early to be thinking about a vaccine for cervical cancer for her.” With the notion that cervical cancer could take their daughters’ lives and with persuasion from physicians—but without necessarily knowing the studies and reports that indicate the vaccine’s questionable safety—parents may feel guilty for not having their daughters vaccinated.
UC senior Kira Oldham-Curtis explains, “I remember fighting with my mom over the shot. I didn’t think it was necessary, and she said that I should just get it anyway.”
Supposing that females and/or parents were encouraged by physicians to research the vaccine’s details before deciding in its favor, they would be interested to discover that it may not be due all the hype that it gets. It only immunizes against four HPV strains out of at least fifteen that can cause cancer and at least one hundred overall, according to the aforementioned JAMA article. Perhaps America should focus less on developing immunizations against preventable diseases and more on educating target recipients—preteens, teens, and young adults—on taking a responsible approach to sex that would help to eliminate STIs’ spreading instead.
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