Tuesday "HOT TOPIC"-Join

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2003
Tuesday "HOT TOPIC"-Join
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Tue, 02-20-2007 - 8:18am

Our Hot Topic Conversation for this week is regarding the HPV vaccine for young girls!


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 02-21-2007 - 9:32am

I found some facts posted on another website by chance today and I thought I'd post these...I make no claims to their accuracy but it was interesting enough to make me sit up and say "Hey, we need to know this!"

Denise

Fact 1: The study was conducted over a four-year period, which means, with such a short study, we have yet to know the extent of any adverse reactions from the vaccine, especially the 250 girls around the age of 9 that were administered the vaccine and who have not yet reached the age where they're likely to be attempting to become pregnant.

Fact 2: It was noted in the FDA labeling: Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility GARDASIL has not been evaluated for the potential to cause carcinogenicity or genotoxicity. In other words, this vaccine could cause fertility problems down the line, but the drug maker is not sure. It could also, itself, cause cancer but they're not sure. See link for more information on the FDA's findings: http://www.fda.gov/cber/label/hpvmer060806LB.htm.

Fact 3: The pregnancy category for this vaccine is B. It is noted that it is not known whether Gardasil can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or if it can affect reproductive capacity.

Fact 4: Merck&Co. is so unsure about this that Merck & Co., Inc. maintains a Pregnancy Registry to monitor fetal outcomes of pregnant women exposed to GARDASIL. Patients and health care providers are encouraged to report any exposure to GARDASIL during pregnancy by calling (800) 986-8999.

Fact 5: When it comes to lactation, they're not sure either. According to the FDA's report: It is not known whether vaccine antigens or antibodies induced by the vaccine are excreted in human milk.

And more regarding the lactation that should concern those faced with the decision to vaccinate or not: Overall, 17 and 9 infants of subjects who received GARDASIL or placebo, respectively (representing 3.4% and 1.8% of the total number of subjects who were breast-feeding during the period in which they received GARDASIL or placebo, respectively), experienced a serious adverse experience. None was judged by the investigator to be vaccine related. How can we be sure it wasn't vaccine related, since it followed on the heels of the vaccine?

In clinical studies, a higher number of breast-feeding infants (n = 6) whose mothers received GARDASIL had acute respiratory illnesses within 30 days post-vaccination of the mother as compared to infants (n = 2) whose mothers received placebo. I think the first number is one worth consideration, don't you, especially since it was only evaluated over a four-year period?

Fact 6: The testing was carried out on more than 27,000 young men and women but only 250 of these subjects were as young as nine.

Fact 7: This vaccine has purportedly been shown to protect against four types of HPV--6, 11, 16, and 18--while there are over 100 strains of HPV. Does that make it worth it, even if these are said to be the most common types of the strain?

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2003
Wed, 02-21-2007 - 9:40am
Interesting!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 02-21-2007 - 9:57am

MERCK SUSPENDS LOBBYING FOR VACCINE

(I guess there were more than enough angry parents who didn't want this forced on their girls!)

Merck & Co. is immediately suspending its lobbying campaign to persuade state legislatures to mandate that adolescent girls get the company's new vaccine against cervical cancer as a requirement for school attendance, the company said late Tuesday.

The drugmaker had been criticized by parents and doctors' groups for quietly funding the campaign via a third party to require 11- and 12-year-old girls get the three-dose vaccine in order to attend school.

Some had objected because the vaccine protects against a sexually transmitted disease, human papilloma virus, which causes cervical cancer. Vaccines mandated for school attendance usually are for diseases easily spread through casual contact.

"Our goal is about cervical cancer prevention and we want to reach as many females as possible with Gardasil," Dr. Richard M. Haupt, Merck's medical director for vaccines, told The Associated Press.

"We're concerned that our role in supporting school requirements is a distraction from that goal, and as such have suspended our lobbying efforts," Haupt said, adding the company will continue providing information about the vaccine if requested by government officials.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-03-2006
Wed, 02-21-2007 - 10:37am
The key is WIDESPREAD infection. You only have to have sex once with an infected partner to potentially be infected. Then to spread it, you would have to have sex with others and they would have to have sex with others, and so on. For a large percentage of the population to become infected, people have to be "spreading it around" by having sex with multiple partners. This also goes to show that you not only have to be concerned about your own promiscuity, but also the promiscuity of any chosen sexual partner. And I think this goes back to what I said about boys. Obviously, in your aunt's case, she was not promiscuous, and she contracted this from one of the two men she was with.
Community Leader
Registered: 07-26-1999
Wed, 02-21-2007 - 2:17pm
Thanks for all those facts and the article Denise!
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