One in Three Teenage Girls Got Gardasil Shots to Prevent Cervical Cancer (Hmmmm)

[The Straight Story]

One in Three Teenage Girls Got Gardasil Shots to Prevent Cervical Cancer, Government Report Says

In June 2009, the FDA ordered Merck to include in Gardasil’s packaging stronger warnings about the risks of fainting spells after receiving the injections. In 2008, officials in Australia reported severe allergic reactions to Gardasil in some girls and young women who received the vaccine in that country.

One in three teenage girls in the United States has received the Gardasil vaccine to protect against a virus that is a leading cause of cervical cancer and genital warts, according to a newly released government study. That means millions of girls and many more older women have been given the vaccine associated with scores of patient deaths and serious health complications.

Since 2006, Gardasil has been linked to at least 47 deaths and thousands of serious adverse reactions, including fainting spells, blood clots, and a rare but severe neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome. The complications have prompted questions about whether Gardasil is safe for preventing a disease, cervical cancer, which can be effectively detected and diagnosed through screening and routine pelvic exams.

The first report of its kind to compare the rates of Gardasil vaccinations for each state was released on September 17 by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. The report will no doubt be closely examined by critics of Gardasil, the controversial Merck & Co. vaccine that recently was recommended for use in boys and young men to further prevent the spread of cervical cancer and genital warts.

According to the report, the rates of Gardasil vaccinations vary widely depending on the states where the women live. For instance, in New Hampshire and Rhode Island, more than half of girls between the ages of 13 and 17 got at least one dose of Gardasil, which is administered in a series of three shots. By comparison, the lowest rates of vaccination were reported in Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina, the CDC said.
Millions Worldwide Vaccinated With Gardasil

As many as 40 million girls and young women worldwide have been vaccinated with Gardasil since 2006 to guard against the four most common strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV). The virus is responsible for about 70 percent of cases of cervical cancer and nearly all cases of genital warts.

http://www.attorneyatlaw.com/2009/09/one-in-three-teenage-girls-got-gardasil-shots-to-prevent-cervical-cancer-government-report-says/

Hmmmm - let me see. Some will say vaccines are safe. And for many they may be right. But for some it has adverse reactions (we are all different, a little thing called DNA and such), just like some people who smoke (most) don't die of lung cancer, and some do.

So should babies be forced to have shots? Should we wait until people are older and communicate better (ie, let us know what is hurting and such), why is it we are so willing to protect people from going into a place they want to go in that allows smoking but we are all for sticking a needle in kids and giving them something that may harm them - but hey, it is for the good of all and if your kid has to take a hit for the team, suck it up.

[LeftyMom]

1. Are you capable of posting a thread without connecting something back to smoking?

I'm just curious.

[Forkboy]

6. Remember Vietnam? I got two words for you on what caused it.

Lucky Strike.

:P

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Ok

:spank:

That was :evilgrin:

[The Straight Story]

40. If folks paid attention they would see it is NOT about smoking but about personal rights

But keep on thinking it is about smoking and ignore the larger issues at stake.

I feel the same way about abortion, but I cannot have one. I feel the same about people owning guns, but I don't own one.

Freedom to choose, whether it is wrapped in smoking issues, etc, is important to me.

Maybe freedom to choose is not something you like or think is important. I do though. And if I use a common issue to discuss it, so what?

Choice - it used to be something we on the left cared about. But I guess some are willing to sell it down the river for things they don't like.

[xchrom]

2. why don't you post the links that shows that gardasil works better than it's initial

projections -- because it does.

and no -- i won't do your home work for you -- it's been posted on DU -- and this is superstitious nonsense you're posting.

not unlike most if not all anti-vaxers though.

[KittyWampus]

32. I have posted NUMEROUS times the scientific and medical FACT that young girls' bodies rid themselves

of this virus.

It isn't until women are in the mid-twenties that this vaccine is worthwhile.

And the overwhelming majority of people posting on this aren't "anti-vaxers" since that term categorically implies being against any and all vaccines.

It shows how dishonest some people are that they resort to such labels.

There is something wrong with some people that they accept crap like this.

[DireStrike]

38. Yep - not "anti-vax" here, but I wouldn't want my daughter to get this one.

[xchrom]

49. and i've posted scientific data showing something very very different. nt

[The Straight Story]

45. Ok, I did my homework - from the US govt:

Serious adverse event reports

VAERS defines serious adverse events as adverse events that involve hospitalization, permanent disability, life-threatening illness, and death. As with all VAERS reports, serious events may or may not have been caused by the vaccine.

Please note: A major limitation of VAERS data is that there is no proven causal association between the vaccine and the adverse event. The only association is in time, meaning that the adverse event occurred sometime after vaccination. Therefore we cannot conclude that the events reported to VAERS were caused by the vaccine.

All serious reports (7%) for Gardasil have been carefully analyzed by medical experts. Experts have not found a common medical pattern to the reports of serious adverse events reported for Gardasil that would suggest that they were caused by the vaccine. The following is a summary of selected serious adverse event reports that were submitted to VAERS between June 8, 2006 and June 1, 2009.

Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS)

Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) has been reported after vaccination with Gardasil. GBS is a rare disorder that causes muscle weakness. It occurs in 1-2 out of every 100,000 people in their teens. A number of infections can cause GBS. There has been no indication that Gardasil increases the rate of GBS in girls and women above the rate expected in the general population, whether or not they were vaccinated.

Blood Clots

Rarely, people have reported blood clots after getting Gardasil. These clots have occurred in the heart, lungs, and legs. Most of these people had a risk of getting blood clots, such as taking oral contraceptives (the birth control pill).

Deaths

As of June 1, 2009, there have been 43 U.S. reports of death among females who have received the vaccine. Twenty six of these reports have been confirmed, 9 are still under investigation, and 8 remain unconfirmed due to no identifiable patient information in the report such as a name and contact information to confirm the report. Confirmed reports are those that scientists have followed up on and have verified the claim. In the 26 reports confirmed, there was no unusual pattern or clustering to the deaths that would suggest that they were caused by the vaccine.

More information is available at:

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/acip/downloads/mtg-slides-oct08/12-3-hpv.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/vaers/gardasil.htm

Like I said, each person is different and I can't blame a parent for wanting to be a little careful when it comes to giving this to their kid.

[xchrom]

48. you come very very close to out and out telling a falsehood useing VAERS data

that data can in no way be quantified, verified scientifically or any thing else.

now you are simply reporting hornswaggle that on a very surface inspection appears to be true when in fact it isn't or is held in disrepute.

you did not do your homework and i call you dishonest.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. Great.

Now for the other 2/3s.

[TheWraith]

4. Give it a rest.

The chance, maybe, that it MIGHT have been involved in 47 deaths? Even assuming the VERY unlikely chance that all of those were actually the result of drug reactions, compared to the 40 million plus vaccinations that have taken place, that's a statistical astrisk. When you're talking literally a one in a million chance, you're about as likely to be hit by a train.

Compare that to the real benefits in terms of preventing cancers and STD infections.

[pnwmom]

9. The real solution for cervical cancer is universal access to pap smears

which are a proven success story in preventing millions of cases of cervical cancer. Annual pap smears are necessary even for women who have had the vaccine because the vaccine does not protect against all forms of HPV and because HPV isn't the only cause of cervical cancer.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. Pap smears and HPV vaccines.

Claiming pap smears is the real solution for cervical cancer to the exlusion of HPV vaccines is like saying celibacy and faith in the Lord is the only true solution for HIV/AIDS.

[Okie4Obama]

15. Even those with health insurance, how many women are

real enthusiastic and diligent about having a doctor probe their genitals on an annual basis? I wasn't, and only went three years without a pap smear and bam, precancerous lesions appeared on my cervix after a decade of clear test results. If they had Gardasil when I was a teen, I would have been saved months of fear, a painful surgery, and about two grand out of pocket.

[pnwmom]

18. You would still have needed annual pap smears, because HPV isn't the only

cause of cervical cancer, and because Gardasil doesn't protect against all forms of HPV.

A good friend of mine, for example, developed cervical cancer not from HPV but because of a drug her mother took during pregnancy.

[Okie4Obama]

29. My point is lots of women don't get annual pap smears...

because they don't have health insurance, or they have hang ups about having a doctor sticking his fingers up their crotch every 12 mos, or they forget, or they think it's not a big deal to get a pap smear, and Gardasil would be away to prevent cervical cancer for those women at least 70% of the time. Sounds like a win to me.

[Chemisse]

22. I agree - pap smears will detect the cervical cancer

And that is great. But it is far better to prevent it in the first place.

What they need to do is make the vaccine safer.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

25. The vaccine's perfectly safe.

What they need to do is tar and feather the anti-vaccers and run them out of town on a rail.

[Ilsa]

27. In theory it is safe enough. But there such a thing as bad batches, which

authorities in the UK are considering after the death of a thirteen yo and reports that other girls were sick after receiving the vaccine.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

28. That would have nothing to do with the vaccine itself.

If somebody dies from an embolism because an incompetent nurse got an air bubble in the syringe, that's got nothing to do with the vaccine.

If somebody dies in a car crash on the way to get the vaccine, that's got nothing to do with the vaccine.

[Chemisse]

33. It is not perfectly safe, but seems to be safer than HPV infection.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/vaers/gardasil.htm

The CDC reports, "As of June 1, 2009, more than 25 million doses of Gardasil were distributed in the United States.

"As of June 1, 2009, there were 14,072 VAERS reports of adverse events following Gardasil vaccination in the United States. Of these reports, 93% were reports of events considered to be non-serious, and 7% were reports of events considered to be serious."


That is not such a bad record, but you can hardly say the vaccinations are 'perfectly safe'.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

36. Now you're contradicting yourself.

Out of 25,000,000 administrations, 980 had serious events, which may or may not have been related to the vaccine.

Yet you go on about a need to make it safer.

How do you make it safer?

[still_one]

13. Of course how can that be unless you have a public option since many women can't afford the exam

yet alone the biopsy and interpretation

[pnwmom]

19. The same can be said for the very costly vaccines, which do not eliminate the need

for annual pap smears.

[still_one]

23. absolutely /nt

[TheWraith]

17. Nothing wrong with dropping the number of cases even if checkups are still needed.

I'm willing to bet that most women would jump at cutting out 70% or more of their risk of cervical cancer even if they still needed to get checkups.

[pnwmom]

21. But it wouldn't cut that much of the their overall risk, not at all.

The risk could be virtually eliminated simply by having universally available annual pap smears. The vaccine only works to reduce cervical cancer that is related to 70% of current HPV viruses -- and HPV isn't the only cause of cervical cancer. Pap smears, however, detect precancerous lesions no matter whether they are caused by the HPV viruses in the vaccine -- or by other HPV viruses -- or by a cause unrelated to HPV.

[Okie4Obama]

31. In my case, I had the HPV virus that is prevented by the vaccine

So, actually, it would have cut my risk to 0%, and I would have just had pap smears that are completely covered by my insurance, versus a 2000 dollar procedure.

[kestrel91316]

26. Pap smears don't PREVENT cervical cancer. They detect it.

And yes, they detect early precancerous lesions. But it'is FAR better to prevent the infection with HPV that starts the whole process.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. In most civilized countries where we have accepted the

Germ Theory of Disease... we have national vaccination campaigns with far better coverage than the US.

In a backassed backwards country like the US our teaching of science is superseded by religion

So I have to ask you too. Do you believe Jenner was right? If so, then realize that his cow pox vaccine led to our current understanding of what causes disease.

If you don't. well then, you live in a philosophical milieu that rejects modern science, evolution and the rest of the things that we have found out over the last two hundred or so years.

I have had it with this backassed rejection of modern science in favor of the woo woo.

But then 'gain, should not surprise me any more... after all demons and witches are on the rise... to the detriment of what once was a nation that led with engineers and doctors and all that.

Oh and yes, I will say it... this has nuthing to do with Reagan but the proud tradition of hating the fureigner and them pointy headed intellectuals.

Oh and to those who say we are becoming a third world country. No, we are not becoming, we ARE a third world country.

Yes, this place is now a proud copy of some places where the woo woo is very popular. At least they have an excuse... lack of universal education...

[Zoeisright]

14. +1000

Seeing Doctors without Borders practicing in this country makes me ill. You're right, this is a third world country in many respects.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. Yes, that made me go... shit time to renew my EMT cert to help

oh and welcome to DU

[armyowalgreens]

8. It seems as though anti-vacciners can never grasp the concept of "statistics"...

It's really extremely pathetic.

[Rude Dog]

11. Garbage.

Pure, ignorant, mindless anti-vaxxer garbage.

[still_one]

12. Every vaccination has potential side effects. Getting a particular illness for which there is

a vaccine also has consequences, not only for that person, but for others who they come in contact with.

Whooping cough, polio, mumps, measles reubella, should not be minimized

Even products to reduce fever can cause major complications

It is something called risk verses reward

As far as you statement that people who smoke, "most" don't die of lung cancer, does not cover ALL the things that are harmful with smoking. How about, heart disease, which include stroke? How about COPD or other lung diseases? A better question is does smoking not only reduce your quality and quantity of life, but also poses a risk to others, especially if those others are children or have asthma.

Every vaccine has the risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome, not just Gardasil.

You don't believe in the science then don't take it, or have your kids vacinated.

Some vaccines are required if you go to public school, Gardasil is not mandatory, but if something can prevent cervical cancers people have to weigh the risks verses the rewards

There are vaccines against Hepatitis A and B, should those vaccines be stopped also?

You say it may harm them, others will say it will protect them

[pnwmom]

20. This is the first time that we have had an attempt to mandate a vaccine

for a disease that is not spread by casual contact, and for a virus that -- in the vast majority of cases -- is eliminated by the body without any treatment.

[still_one]

24. Sorry, as far as I know this vaccine is not mandated. If your referring to the perry of texas

fiasco, that was special interest lobbyist BS. It was overturned

You statement that the "vast majority of case is eliminated by the body without any treatment", I will counter that with the vast majority of cervical cancer cases are caused by this virus

There have also been studies that pap smears do not necessarily reduce the the death rate of cervical cancer

You pays your money and you take your chances

[DireStrike]

39. Bush Administration Forcing HPV Vaccine On Immigrants

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/15/immigrant-gardasil/


In July, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services quietly amended its list of required vaccinations for immigrants applying to become citizens. One of the newest requirements? Gardasil, which vaccinates against the human papillomavirus (HPV). From the agency’s press release:

CDC’s revised Technical Instructions to Civil Surgeons for Vaccination Requirements require the following age-appropriate additional vaccinations to adjust status to legal permanent resident:

* Rotavirus
* Hepatitis A
* Meningococcal
* Human papillomavirus
* Zoster

[still_one]

44. I appreciate the link. I am not against vaccinations, however for vaccinations

that don't represent a communicable disease, this is wrong. It should be entirely voluntar for HPV

[KittyWampus]

30. Young women's bodies spontaneously rid themselves of this virus. Older women are the ones

who need the vaccine.

It is INSANE to have teens and young women getting this vaccine.

[LeftishBrit]

35. Unfortunately in order to be really effective, the vaccine has to be given before girls start to be

exposed to the viruses.

It's too late to be really effective for older women. I enquired about getting it for myself, and was told that by my age it wouldn't have much benefit.

[HipChick]

34. Girl dies after getting vaccine..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8279855.stm

[armyowalgreens]

37. That doesn't qualify as statistical evidence.

That is a single event.

[The Straight Story]

41. Single event sure, unless it was your kid

Then it is THE event.

Different people, different physical makeups, one cure does not fit with all.

What is wrong with parents being wary of such things?

Once more - your body, your choice - should others be able to force you to inject something into your, or your kids' bodies, that you don't want?

[armyowalgreens]

43. That's called "bias". It's the reason why we have objective statistical evidence...

But I forgot. You don't like statistics.

If vaccines could wait until age 18, I would agree with you. Unfortunately, I live in reality. Early vaccination is necessary.


"should others be able to force you to inject something into your, or your kids' bodies, that you don't want?"

If you want to put your kid around myself or others kids, you better damn well believe that we should be able to force you to vaccinate. I don't really feel like dying of some contagion simply because some parent hates science.

[Odin2005]

47. Logic Fail.

[cynatnite]

42. Food allergies kill about 200 people a year in the US...

http://www.everydayhealth.com/health-report/allergy/information.aspx

[Odin2005]

46. Ugh, more anti-vax hysteria.