Despite evidence, parents' fears of HPV vaccine grow

[cali]

Source: Reuters

More parents of teen girls not fully vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV) are intending to forgo the shots altogether - a trend driven by vaccine safety concerns, new research suggests.

That's despite multiple studies showing the vaccine isn't tied to any serious side effects but does protect against the virus that causes cervical cancer, researchers said.


"There were a lot of very sensationalized anecdotal reports of (girls) having bad reactions to the vaccine," said pediatrician and vaccine researcher Dr. Amanda Dempsey from the University of Colorado Denver.

"Safety concerns have always risen to the top of the pile, in terms of being one of the main reasons people don't get vaccinated, which is unfortunate because this is one of the most well-studied vaccines in terms of safety and is extremely safe," Dempsey, who wasn't involved in the new research, told Reuters Health.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/18/us-evidence-hpv-vaccin-idUSBRE92H0A020130318

[harmonicon]

1. Shit like this makes me understand how authoritarian governments could seem very appealing.

These stupid motherfuckers need to get their kids vaccinated not only for their own good, but for general public safety. Anti-vaccination nut-jobs are endangering the entire planet, but what the fuck to they care?

[Neoma]

23. A progressive liberal dictator...

[hack89]

2. Both my son and daughter took the shots with no problems.

anti-vax fear mongering is going to get people killed.

[Honest_Abe]

3. Anti-vaccers have already gotten children killed,

and will continue to do so.
I would like to make every anti-vaccer sit outside the hospital door of a child with whooping cough for a few hours.

Edit for clarity.

[Stargazer09]

4. My oldest daughter had no problems with her first dose

She's getting the second dose next week.

Anti-vax people scare me. They are taking all sorts of "research" out of context, and even making up their own version of the truth.

[bemildred]

5. Right, a lot of people do not trust the health care system.

And it will take more than bloviating about how it is not the health care system"s fault that people don't trust it to remedy the situation.

[barbaraj]

6. I think there are bad medicines as well as good

Viox studies showing safety, were fraudulent, Mercks mumps vaccine, another fraud, and then rotovirus vaccine quietly pulled without notifying parents of side effects..I think one should read the label , and not expect our doctors to always know. We need to take some responsibility for our own health and that of our children. Gardisil may be fine, but the CDC is continuing to ask for "further study"..I'd wait.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/Vaccines/HPV/jama.html

[bemildred]

7. That is my point, you cannot trust the advice you get from health care people.

They have other agendas than your well-being: money, lawsuits, keeping their job, regulations, and the FDA, for some examples.

I think more and better vaccines is the way to go, a much better long term approach than antibiotics. Antibiotics should be for emergencies only, life-threatening acute infections with something that is not a virus.

[crim son]

22. Precisely.

I'm not an anti-vax parent by any means, but I've had enough personal experience being prescribed new meds that were later withdrawn from the market because they were unsafe, to want to wait for Guardasil to have been on the market for more than a few years before I'll wholeheartedly endorse it. My father, a retired physician, had a policy of avoiding newly marketed drugs until their safety was firmly established. It was common sense when he was practicing and it's common sense now.

[Arkana]

8. Does this have anything to do with Jenny McCarthy

and that hysterical "VACCINES MAEK AUTISM" crusade she went on?

[proverbialwisdom]

9. Letter published in Infectious Agents and Cancer Journal on recent “HPV Prevention Series” editorial

Original journal source (with footnotes):

http://www.infectagentscancer.com/content/7/1/37/comments#1334696

http://www.greatergoodmovie.org/news-views/hpv-vaccines-and-science-based-medicine/

HPV Vaccines and Science Based Medicine
February 6, 2013, Posted by: Leslie Manookian

<>

Against this very biased backdrop, some families whose children have been injured or died after these vaccines are shining a light on the “science” used to justify these vaccines and the light reveals the degree to which the science is based on half truths and distortions. Here is a letter from these families recently published in the journal Infectious Agents and Cancer:

Commentary on Editorial entitled “HPV Prevention Series” authored by Silvia de Sanjose

Emily Tarsell   (2013-02-04 14:41)  Private Practice

Editors,

As now better informed consumers who know the dire consequences of misinformation, we feel compelled to comment on the Editorial entitled “HPV Prevention Series” authored by Silvia de Sanjose [1]. The author makes several statements which are at best, half-truths.

The statement that cervical cancer “remains to be the second leading cause of cancer death in women in less developed regions of the world” is at best, a half-truth. It fails to mention the women living in the developed countries where cervical cancer death rates are very low. In the U.S.A., cervical cancer is 14th in frequency on the list of causes of cancer death [2] and its death rate is 1.7 per 100,000 women; in Australia and New Zealand its death rate is 1.4 and 1.6 per 100,000 respectively [3], and it is widely accepted that cervical cancer death only occurs in unscreened or rarely screened women [4]. Over-extrapolation of the clinical trial data and the benefits obtained in a population with high cervical cancer rates compared to a population living in the developed countries is inappropriate and misleading.

The statement “HPV is the necessary cause of cervical cancer”in the Editorial is also a half-truth. The whole truth should be that HPV infection is not in itself a sufficient cause of cervical cancer [5].

The author states that “major reduction of HPV related disease is feasible” through such strategies as “routine HPV vaccination of pre-adolescent and young women.” However this statement is not supportable by scientific evidence as there is no pre or post licensure research that HPV vaccines are more effective than Pap screening in reducing incidences of cervical cancer or pre-cancerous lesions [6].

Furthermore, in developed countries, to achieve the claimed efficacy of 70% would involve mass vaccination of every young girl between the ages of 9-12 to reduce one death due to cervical cancer per every 100,000 girls vaccinated. The cost of vaccinating 100,000 young girls is $40,000,000-$100,000,000 in the U.S.A. at $400 to $1,000 per vaccine regimen [7]. It is not cost effective to invest so much money to prevent one death caused by cervical cancer when the cancer occurs at an average age of 54 [8] and death only if it remains undiscovered and untreated. We have scientifically proven safe and effective alternatives for preventing cervical cancer such as improved cervical screening interventions which are far less harmful than the HPV vaccine. The serious damage to the lives of some young vaccine recipients who experienced vaccine adverse reactions and the monetary cost of the vaccine far outweigh the potential benefit of the HPV vaccines.

We agree with the Editorial intent to invite articles “to widen our minds, to increase our capacity for action and ultimately to increase the health of our population.” However those intentions cannot be achieved with half-truths and misinformation, or by dismissing inconvenient truths as anti-vaccine activism or by ignoring science.

After undertaking our own research, we now realize that we were and continue to be misinformed about the necessity, safety, efficacy and economic value of HPV vaccines. It is the responsibility of scientific publications to ensure that the information presented is accurate, balanced and unbiased. Toward that end and in the interest of public health and safety, we submit our comments.

Sincerely,

Emily Tarsell – Sparks, MD, USA
Stephen Tunley – Sydney, Australia

Identifications of 50 additional consumers who endorse these comments are available; they also experienced dire consequences as a result of misinformation regarding hpv vaccines.

[barbaraj]

10. It's often important to be aware of the sources

of our information . Our science is "off".http://ethicalnag.org/2009/11/09/nejm-editor/

This should send a chill..
NEJM editor: “No longer possible to believe much of clinical research published”

[proverbialwisdom]

12. That's another broader issue. I look to those personally affected to provide vetting/due diligence.

Whistleblower scientists and investigative journalists, too.

[barbaraj]

14. I agree..

but when the issue is so sensitive, with people choosing sides instead of information, it's hard to offer anything anecdotal, even when ,historically,we know the anecdotes lead to the solving of most medical mysteries. Without the case histories the questions wouldn't be raised. Today the money is planted on the side of misinformation, and as this doctor suggests, it rules.

[proverbialwisdom]

16. Many Republicans appear to lack empathy on the marriage equality issue unless personally affected.

Last edited Thu Apr 4, 2013, 01:02 PM - Edit history (4)

Analogously, judging from DU and my personal experiences, generally well intentioned Democrats appear to have stridently ugly lapses of empathy toward family members of those suffering what they believe are adverse reactions to vaccination. Nothing makes the physicians and PhDs in my family, for example, see red more than this 3rd rail subject.

Please see: http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/2013/03/testimony-on-maine-ld-672-act-relating.html

Again, the first entry I read at Ginger Taylor's site (IMO, Pulitizer Prize deserving writing) was found via a Google search for THE WORLD ACCORDING TO MONSANTO after it was pulled from youtube.

http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/2008/05/monsanto-gmos-world-according-to.html

At the time, I had no awareness of gmos or autism. Frankly, the cognitive dissonance that followed was horrible. I couldn't believe what I was reading. I read through tears. In December, twitchy mouse touched the link to AOA, Blaxill's Galileo tribute. And now, I can't pass by scorn or ridicule filled discussions of vaccination policy in silence anymore.

[barbaraj]

17. I get it..

you get it..we can't lump issues into politics. We know we have an elite class, the one percenter's who do not vaccinate their children on the schedule the rest of us have been advised to follow. Trump, among others has spoken out against the schedule, as have a few tea party-ers. They represent those in the new JAMA study, educated, well off parents who make the decision to not vaccinate and are reaping the benefits with less hospitalizations , less ER visits, etc.. The rest of us are bound by the laws , schools, and doctors pushing us to vaccinate or die.Why? They believe in herd immunization, and if all of the low levels vaccinate their children they can act as a cocoon to protect theirs. Maybe they hope no democrat hears their message. The herd immunity is a lie as well, as we are experiencing huge outbreaks among the vaccinated in this country with measles, mumps and whooping cough. The truth, many of these vaccines just don't work. We only need to pick up a paper and read the flu vaccine history for the year..kids who got the vaccine were three times more likely to be hospitalized, seniors were offered no efficacy, and regular folks were only protected "if" they "didn't" have the shot last year. We all just need to pay attention. Right now, the gardisil vaccine carries an unusual rate of POD, of venous thrombosis, of MS, we just need to listen, all medicine isn't "good" for everyone, so just watch the numbers..the risks vs benefits. The last annual count for cervical cancer deaths in the USA is 4,000, the reports to VAERS for adverse effects for gardasil, 24,000..how many will die or suffer serious debilitation..unknown.

[proverbialwisdom]

18. We don't know each other. As for "we know we have...", that's a little too CT for me.

However, I strongly support informed parental consent and those groups advocating for it as a fundamental human right.

[barbaraj]

20. sorry

we know, was meant to be a universal "we" ..as in many parents, adults, many doctors, didnt' mean to cozy up .. Yes, it should be a fundamental right to accept or reject any medical procedure after personal research ,experience and educated advice. What I say should be rejected on it's face, yet it should cause one to consider the issue and do research on their own.

[Recursion]

11. "The virus that causes cervical cancer" is a bit simplistic

It's a common contributor to a common precursor of many kinds of cervical cancer.

(Note: I love the vaccine, I just worry about people thinking "Oh, I have the vaccine, I don't need to get checked anymore&quot

[winter is coming]

21. They make it clear when you get the vaccine that it's not effective for

all types of HPV and that Pap smears will still be necessary.

[Doctor_J]

13. Is this a Hate Radio meme or something?

The Limbeciles will believe and do anything Pigboy or Beck tell them. Especially if they can make it sound like "Big Brother wants you to get this shot"

[barbaraj]

15. wow..

When the GOP purchased Jesus and Rush as their icons, you really need to be careful as to which way the manipulation is intended.

[Paul E Ester]

19. We don't have "health care" in this country, these are businesses, they are corporations.

They have the same moral compass as all the other corporations.

Buyer beware.

[barbaraj]

24. May I offer Pub Med

for the last word...much like a particular pneumonia vaccine that caused an increase of
a more virulent pneumonia, the HPV may increase cervical cancer by 3 to 10 percent.( possibly an underestimate}
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22480925

[Paul E Ester]

25. Very Interesting.

Thank you.