Re: A Vaccine to Save Women’s Lives
From: Kim Elise Goldman (goldman@calweb.com)
Tue Feb 6 08:08:27 2007
Dean,
An adult woman can make her own decisions.
A 9 year old girl having health care decisions made by the
legislature is just wrong no matter how you look at it.
And I disagree, it is not saying "if you don't do what I want I'll
make sure that you are at risk....". It is saying *I* want to be the
one to decide while my daughter is still a child whether or not I
believe the benefits are worth the risks. I don't want a boneheaded
legislator with no medical knowledge making that decision.
And if it is population hygiene we are discussing I still want to
know why we are not vaccinating boys?
Kim
On Feb 6, 2007, at 9:37 AM, Dean Huffman . wrote:
> .
>
> Indeed, in some cases, behavior choice may affect whether or not
> someone is
> exposed to HPV and at risk for cervical cancer. However, looked at
> from another
> direction, the girls (and boys) are at high probablilty to make the
> WRONG
> choice, irrespective of their upbringing. TO withhold the vaccine,
> the parent
> is saying, "If you do not do things the way I want you to, I'll
> make sure that
> you are at risk for dying young of cervical cancer." I think that is
> irresponsible on the part of parents.
>
> And what about the woman who remains "pure" until marriage then
> finds out that
> her husband had an HPV infection which he has passed on to her.
> Dinged again.
>
> It is not to far removed from the people who say that God developed
> AIDS to
> punish sexual devients. Bull shit.
>
> - - - -
>
> From: Jamie <ajfields@pine-net.com>
> Subject: Re: A Vaccine to Save Women’s Lives
> Date: Feb 6, 2007 9:24 AM
>
> A lot of parents, myself included (though I'm not in Texas) object
> to their
> daughters being forced to take a new vaccine when a behavior choice
> affords the
> same protection.
>
> At Tue, 6 Feb 2007, Dean Huffman . wrote:
>>
>> ..
>>
>> Editorial (NY Times)
>>
>> A Vaccine to Save Women’s Lives
>>
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/06/opinion/06tue2.html
>>
>> Published: February 6, 2007
>>
>> Congratulations to Texas for becoming the first state to require
>> vaccinating
>> young schoolgirls — ages 11 and 12 — against a sexually
>> transmitted
> virus that
>> causes cervical cancer and genital warts. Other states would be
>> wise to follow
>> the same path.
>>
>> There is no doubt that Merck’s vaccine against the human
>> papillomavirus,
> given
>> in three shots over eight months, is highly effective. It provides
>> nearly
>> perfect protection against two strains that cause 70 percent of
>> all cases of
>> cervical cancer, and against two other strains that cause 90
>> percent of
> genital
>> warts cases. (That still leaves 30 percent of the cervical cancer
>> cases to
> worry
>> about, so women are urged to keep getting regular Pap tests to
>> screen for
> signs
>> of the cancer.) The side effects are generally mild: pain or
>> tenderness at the
>> site of the injection.
>>
>> Many parents are appalled at the notion of vaccinating such young
>> girls
> against
>> a sexually transmitted disease. But the medical reality is that
>> the vaccine
>> will generally not work after a woman has been infected, so it is
>> best for
>> girls to be vaccinated well before they become sexually active. The
> nation’s
>> top advisory committee of immunization experts has recommended
>> that the
> vaccine
>> be routinely given to girls 11 and 12 years old.
>>
>> The most contentious issue is whether the shots should be required
>> or simply
>> recommended to parents through a strong educational campaign.
>> Those opposed
> to
>> compulsory vaccination complain that there are already a slew of
>> required
>> vaccinations, so why heap on another, especially for a disease
>> that is spread
>> only through sexual contact? Critics also fear that HPV
>> vaccination may lead
>> some students to wrongly assume that they are protected against
>> all sexually
>> transmitted diseases, perhaps encouraging them to engage in risky
>> behavior.
>>
>> None of these objections seem strong enough to forgo the
>> protection against
> a
>> devastating disease. The United States records some 10,000 new
>> cases of
>> cervical cancer each year, and 3,700 cervical cancer deaths. Gov.
>> Rick Perry
> of
>> Texas, a conservative Republican, has taken an “opt out”
>> approach, in
> which
>> vaccination is required but parents can seek an exemption for
>> reasons of
>> conscience or religious beliefs.
>>
>> That makes sense to us. All students deserve protection against
>> HPV infection,
>> and the presumption should be that they will get it.
>
> --
> JFields, RN, BSN
>
