Panel says boys should get HPV vaccine, too

[alp227]

Source: SF Chronicle

(10-25) 12:03 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal advisory panel today recommended that all 11- and 12-year-old boys get a controversial vaccine that prevents a common sexually transmitted disease.

The HPV vaccine, called Gardasil, has been recommended for preteen girls since 2006, but parents have been reluctant to immunize their daughters and as of last year, only about a third of girls nationwide had gotten all three shots required to be fully vaccinated.

But boys tend to be the source of HPV infections in girls, so federal public health authorities hope that by vaccinating them, too, that girls will get additional protection from the STD.

"There's been a disappointing uptake in teenage girls," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, in a media teleconference this morning. "In addition to a direct benefit for boys, there's also the potential that vaccinating boys will reduce the spread of HPV from males to females."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/25/BA7H1LM4G9.DTL

[kestrel91316]

1. Antivaxer heads exploding everywhere.

[customerserviceguy]

3. I'm pro-vaccine

But it doesn't take an antivaxer to see that this is Merck's way of shoving an expensive, unproven moneymaker down everyone's throats. You can object to the way this stuff is marketed without opposing the concept of vaccination.

[kestrel91316]

5. Herd health comprehension FAIL.

[customerserviceguy]

6. Well, if everybody in the herd

is fucking everybody else, you've got a valid point there.

This is one of the things that sunk Rick Perry, and I'm glad to see that.

[HuckleB]

12. This has nothing to do with Rick Perry.

http://whitecoatunderground.com/2011/10/26/hpv-vaccination-for-boys-just-do-it/

[customerserviceguy]

14. Then you haven't been watching the Repuke debates

Rick Perry's crony capitalism was exposed by Bachmann, and it clearly showed where he stood on the question of freedom as to what medical care your kids are going to get.

Merck has been up to its eyeballs in similar lobbying for this expensive, unproven BS drug that we cannot possibly know the long term side effects of. If your kid is prone to screwing around, maybe you should consider it, but it shouldn't be made mandatory for everyone. Unless you own stock in Merck.

[HuckleB]

16. Bzzt. Wrong.

I'm sorry that you oppose a safe vaccine that can save thousands of lives.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=222x109341

and...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=222x109207

[ehrnst]

21. "If your kid is prone to screwing around."??

A. Who is going to know if their kid is 'screwing around'?

B. The vaccine is preventative - it needs to be administered BEFORE sexual activity starts. Just like giving a chicken pox vaccine only works if you give it prior to exposure.

C. There is simply a recommendation that they are seeking. That way, physicians are more likely to discuss it with parents.

D. What is the basis for your claim that this is an "unproven, BS drug"

E. The fact that a drug is expensive, or made by a pharmacuetical company does not mean that it is simply a moneymaker. How much money has the polio vaccine made for the companies that distributed it - Billions, I'm sure. Yes, I think that big pharma has some major ethical issues, but saying that people should be discouraged from obtaining effective drugs from them is like saying people should not turn on their gas furnaces in homes in the winter because that just supports fracking.

[Bragi]

27. Good questions. I await the answers! /nt

[ehrnst]

24. Who said it should be made "mandatory" this is just a recommendation.

And it's being made by PHYSICIANS, not a politician.

Not at all like Perry.....

[HuckleB]

28. +1

[Sgent]

31. (barfing in my mouth) I have to support Perry on this one

The CDC Vaccine Recommendations at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/child-schedule.htm are the basis for most state vaccination requirements, medicaid funding, etc.

Although this is a "recommendation", the result for all other vaccines (this one excepted due to fundy sex problems)is a stamp of approval which puts it on school vaccination requirements, etc.

[sarcasmo]

9. Follow the money.

[HuckleB]

19. Ah, so the oncologists are against this vaccine?

:shrug:

[ehrnst]

22. Just like those that say Abortion is a "cash cow" for Planned Parenthood.

And that Planned Parenthood pushes abortions for the cash.

Are you now accusing pediatricians of the same thing?

[TBF]

2. I see Merck has been busy ... nt

[HuckleB]

13. I see your red herring, and I raise you thousands of saved lives.

http://whitecoatunderground.com/2011/10/26/hpv-vaccination-for-boys-just-do-it/

[defendandprotect]

15. +1 -- Happy vaccine industry -- !!!

[HuckleB]

17. That's right! Let's stop trying to keep people healthy!

:puke:

[ehrnst]

23. Unhappy funeral industry ---!!

[defendandprotect]

29. Really? Americans are healthier overall -- 1 in 3 with cancers -- look around you at medical

industry thriving across America -- and it sure ain't because Americans

are healthy!!

[HuckleB]

33. That's right.

Life expectancy is going down. There are far fewer active elderly around. Everything is just horrific.

Oh, wait. Hmmm.

[ehrnst]

25. Got any evidence to back up a claim that these physicians would not be

recommending this vaccine independently of pressure by Merk?

[defendandprotect]

30. ROFL -- are you asking us if Big Pharma is honest? Never defrauded goverment or people? ROFL

[HuckleB]

32. So you have no evidence.

Got it.

[hedgehog]

4. My cousin died of throat cancer. My mother wanted me to get my boys

vaccinated as well as my daughters. Some have argued that cervical cancer is very treatable and not that big a deal. No one says that about throat cancer!

[flamingdem]

11. Was it clearly from HPV?

HPV is looking as scary as AIDS at the rate it is spreading

[hedgehog]

20. I hadn't heard one way or another in his case; just that HPV is increasingly

asociated with throat cancers.

[transeo]

7. Boys spread HPV and get cancer from it too

Let's face it, women aren't getting HPV on their own. This is good for controlling the spread of infection. Additionally, men suffer from HPV-related cancers. Just because cervical center gets the headlines does't mean this is strictly a female issue. HPV-related throat and anal cancers impact men as well, even though the media, feds and a lot of researchers don't want to talk about that because it's "oogy" or something. Talk to any doctor specializing in gay men's health. A highly impacted population has been ignored by the researchers and the government. Until the feds approve this, young gay men who can rarely afford it, will have to pay out of pocket to receive the vaccine as an off-label treatment, as well as find a doctor wiling to use it as such. This is a good thing.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

8. well said. nt

[flamingdem]

10. The latest news is that it causes strokes in women as well

The link for that study is in the health forum, fyi

[HuckleB]

18. HPV Vaccine Prevents Most Anal Pre-Cancers: Study

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=222x111523

[ehrnst]

26. I absolutely plan on getting my son vaccinated when he is 11

as per the guidelines. I got him vaccinated against Chicken Pox, tetnus, diptheria.

If I can protect him against another common contagious, possibly serious or fatal disease, I will do it.

A recommendation by a panel of physicians will make it far more likely to be covered by insurance.

I will not let the fact that Merk will make profit from it stop me from protecting my son.