HPV Vaccine may have unpleasant side effects
Categories: Teens & tweens, Health & safety, Medical conditions
When Gardasil, the relatively new vaccine for the human papillomavirus, was announced, a lot of people worried that the effect of inoculating teenage girls against a sexually transmitted disease would be rampant sexual activity and that eliminating the possibility of getting certain types of cancer just wasn't worth it. Well, according to one news station, promiscuity may not be the biggest concern.Close to nine thousand reports of side effects from the HPV vaccine have been made, ranging from nausea and light-headedness to paralysis. A handful of girls have become paralyzed after receiving the vaccine and their parents are placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of Gardasil. Given the low numbers of serious problems -- eight thousand cases out of eight million doses of the vaccine, and that includes the minor side effects -- I'm not sure that the vaccine needs to be recalled. I do think there should be -- and hopefully is -- ongoing testing and research, however. It would be nice to know whether or not the more serious issues really are linked to the vaccine or just a coincidence.
Of course, there is the alternative to Gardasil -- more than eleven thousand cases of cervical cancer each year, with four thousand women dying from the disease. It should be noted that pap tests are generally effective at identifying HPV and cervical cancer -- which, if caught early enough, can be prevented or treated. Having a daughter of my own, you can be certain I will be keeping a close eye on any findings of serious side effects to this vaccine.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Illogical 8-07-2008 @ 10:28AM
You think it's acceptable that there is a much higher rate of reported side effects to the vaccine than the incidence of the disease in absence of the vaccine? Keep in mind that only about half of the cases of cervical cancer can potentially be prevented by the vaccine. Risk paralysis for a disease that is rare, curable, and preventable through other means? No thanks. The sad thing is that doctors don't advise parents of the potential side effects of vaccines unless pressed to do so, and kids are stuck with the decisions made for them by misinformed / misguided adults.
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Miranda 8-07-2008 @ 1:43PM
I'm with illogical on this one. I'm not going to go into my entire rant on this issue as I've already commented quite a bit on this issue on the Amanda Peets post a while back but we need to educate ourselves. Plain and simple. Every parent wants what's best for their children, but we can't count on our physicians, the FDA, the media or celebrities to dictate that to us or provide us with the facts. I have a young daughter and I'm already concerned about the government mandating this vaccine for young girls. I won't have it! Yes HPV causes cervical cancer, which can be deadly but it's also an STD and I don't think it should be mandatory. I don't trust the FDA, period.
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Judy 8-07-2008 @ 2:09PM
I have had to have 2 LEEP procedures done to remove pre-cancerous growths on my cervix, first at the age of 17, then again 23. Yes, it's due to the HPV virus, which I contracted, most likely, from my first sexual partner when I was very young. My last pap showed more abnormal cells, and when I go back, there is a good chance I will need another LEEP, now at age 30. It seems this is something I will have to deal with every 6 years or so if the pattern holds.
I was thrilled when I first heard of the vaccine. Since then, as I've heard of the many side effects, I'm not so sure I want my daughter (who is almost 13) to get the shots. With routine screening, cervical cancer is fairly easy to diagnose and treat. A serious side effect from the vaccine - including paralysis - is not. I have not decided if the benefits outweigh the risks on this one.
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pbhj 8-07-2008 @ 3:25PM
Serious question - just ignore if you like.
Given what you've suffered if you had to take the risk again do you think you'd remain celibate and then stick to a single life partner or would you risk the STD's and sleep with more partners?
Judy 8-07-2008 @ 4:18PM
Given what I've "suffered" isn't really much, really, and could just as easily have happened if I'd only ever had ONE partner in my life, since I got HPV from my first partner (who I ended up married to for 4+ years, we were together for nearly 7, and I believed we would be together for life), that's a really weird question.
The honest answer is that I am very, very happy with where I am in life, and everything I've ever done in my past led me to where I am right now. There are very, very few things I would change about my life, and very few of them have anything to do with sex.
Any time anyone has sex, he or she is risking an STD. Even if both partners are virgins, there are diseases that can be contracted in other ways - including during birth. I have a friend who got more than one STD from her first time having sex. (Fortunately ones that are curable.)
Additionally, even if two virgins who are free of disease get married, there is never a guarantee of fidelity. How many cases are there of people who were in what they believed to be monogamous relationships, and still ended up with an STD because of an unfaithful partner?
The number of sexual partners I've had is irrelevant and nobody's business, but the answer to the question is that I wouldn't change a thing.
Michelle 8-07-2008 @ 4:20PM
pbhj,
Even if a person only has one partner, she can still contract HPV. I contracted HPV from my first partner, who I later married. I was in a monogamous relationship, he apparently was not, which continued the entirety of our marriage. Thanks to him, I had to undergo painful procedures such as biopsies and cryosurgeries.
I have a daughter. I originally thought I would most definitely have her get the the vaccine. I have many years to weigh the pros and cons and make my decision, and maybe by then they will have made it safer. I have never agreed that the vaccine should be mandatory.
brokemom 8-07-2008 @ 4:24PM
I took my eleven year old daughter for her immunizations a few days ago, and the nurse asked me if I wanted her to have the Gardasil. I told her no, not until more research has been done. And I will follow that research for a few more years and then make the decision with my daughter.
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Kellie 8-07-2008 @ 8:24PM
It's funny, everyone looks at me like i have three heads when I say that I am unsure about this vaccine because it's so new. I had two (fresh out of med school) doctors at my table on a cruise tell me i was crazy and that it was insane to not be behind this vaccine (the state of TX was trying to make it mandatory and i live there). When I said it's just to new for me to make an informed decision it was as if I had just said the most absurd statement in the world.
What is wrong with waiting to see the side affects? Waiting to see how it plays out? Why is that so bad? Look at all the medications that have been introduced only to have been pulled a few years later because of how bad they are. Waiting and not jumping all over a new medical recomendation is not bad...it's wise.
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Judy 8-07-2008 @ 11:57PM
Our former pediatrician, before we moved (we're also in Texas, but ALL the way south), would not give a vaccine until it had been out and in use for a certain length of time. I have no idea if she's giving this one now (I doubt it), but I do remember there was a combo vaccine that was fairly new (multiple vax that had been given for awhile combined into one shot) and instead she still gave the shots separately. I thought she had the right idea.
angie 8-08-2008 @ 10:14PM
This is in reference to the question posted by pbfj....how can you be so uninformed??? HPV occurs in 75% of women and MEN(who happen to spread it all around, yet there isn't a vaccine for them... hmmm...odd). It has absolutely NOTHING to do w/ how many sexual partners someone has...at all.
As for the vaccine...so many people seem so willing to take what the FDA and the government have to say as the word of God or something close to it. Merck launched their whole "One Less" campaign b/c they needed to make up for the money they were paying out in settlements due to the issues w/ Vioxx...seems like Gardasil is a real cash cow.
Bottom line is this (in my opinion)...not nearly enough time has passed to see what the long term side effects of Gardasil will be. HPV is preventable and more importantly, treatable. With safe sex, which I realize won't always happen, and routine pap smears...it can be not only avoided, but treated if contracted. Parents need to educate their teenage girls on how to care for their bodies and have open discussions on sex and the responsibilities that go with it!
This is a real point of debate b/w my ex concerning our 11 daughter...he wants her to have the vaccination and I am scared out of my mind for her to have it! I had HPV at the highest level before cervical cancer and I still think the other options of protection are better than the vaccine. I want my daughter to be "One Less" paralyzed or possibly dead teenager!!!
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chris 9-27-2008 @ 4:59PM
Angie,
I am reading your comment almost a month after you wrote it, and praying you will read this. If you have done research on this you will see that there have been deaths of perfectly healthy young women after getting the vaccine. These deaths are not attributed to the vaccine as the cause of death has been undertermined. It cannot be proven they have died from the vaccine, no direct cause and effect so the manufacturer will keep selling it for years. The number of deaths is growing. I have been an RN in womens health for 28 years and had my daughter vaccinated. After the first shot she complained of numbnes and tinglng in her arm. After the second she had swelling in both arms and legs and broke out in hives. We thought she was allergic to something and never attributed it to the vaccine. He had allergy testing and physicals, everything was negative. She was perfectly healthy. She died after the third vaccine for no apparent reason. The coroners report stated cause of death "undertermined". I was told it was a fluke, a rogue virus stopped her heart. I will never know conclusively her cause of death but I do know that a healthy child started having vaccines and then unexplained medical problems for six months before she died. You tell me, is it worth the risk? I can tell you it is not.
angie 9-28-2008 @ 11:10AM
Chris,
I can not even express how sorry I am for your loss. This is what I have been trying to tell my daughter's father about the vaccine. He thinks that I am being paranoid, but I just don't feel that the benefits outweigh the risks as far as Gardasil is concerned. I don't not think that these girls should be receiving it at all!!
I hope that you do not blame yourself...I fully realize that the parents who are vaccinating their girls are only doing it because they are trying to protect them and keep them healthy.
Again, I am so sorry for the loss of your daughter.
nickey 8-10-2008 @ 4:47AM
"eliminating the possibility of getting certain types of cancer" ....
Sorry, but this vaccine does not eliminate your risk or immunize you against cancer!
In theory it immunizes you against HPV and only a handful of strains of it. There are over a hundred strains and at least 30% of cases of cervical cancer linked to HPV are from strains NOT covered by this vaccination. In addition, while HPV is the highest known factor for developing cervical cancer, it is not the only cause of it.
There have been NO long term studies done on this vaccine for the age range they are marketing it to. There have been no studies done to show whether or not it increases the risk of other types of cancers. We have no idea what the long term side effects for the 8 million women who have taken it will be and we don't know if immunizing young girls will protect them against HPV for life or if they will have to be given "boosters" every few years, thus increasing their risk of side effects.
In addition to the "minor" side effects listed, there have been reports of deaths in young women after the administration of this vaccine. 11 were reported to VAERS as of fall 2007.
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