You're familiar with my stance on vaccines, right? Parents should have a choice.
If parents have to live with the long-term effects of those choices, which could include neurological changes for their children (especially those genetically predisposed), it is them and their child's pediatrician that should decide how and when to get vaccinations.
You may not agree with me. (Sometimes that happens in my life. I know; I'm as shocked as you are every time it happens!)
Recently, Kevin Drum of the otherwise intelligent Mother Jones staff ridiculed vaccine nonbelievers as though we were Creationists at Darwin's 200th birthday party. His blog was a brief jab, apparently to drive traffic to the site. He said of the vaccine-autism connectors:
The Jenny McCarthyization of the autism movement needs to be put finally and firmly to rest
How clever. I read a fair amount on vaccinations and autism, and not the fringe press, people. While I don't believe that vaccinations are the single culprit to neurological differences like autism, I do believe that heavy metals like aluminum, a preservative in the required childhood vaccines, certainly play a role. And pair it with the mercury in our diets, building up over long period of time before we reproduce, and we may have the chemistry for trouble.
Parents who are rightfully worried over the adverse effects should have the choice when and if to vaccinate their children. Period.
If you ask me, Gardasil is one vaccination that represents choice. People across the spectrum, from natural-minded pro-choice mamas to Christian hippies to Conservative parents want to keep this vaccination choice up to them.
In most states, it is not a mandatory vaccination, though here in Virginia they tried to cram it down parents' throats very soon after approval. Luckily, that measure didn't pass.
But Gardasil represents the choice to talk to your children, your daughters so far (though it may be recommended for boys soon, too), about sexual choice. It's another opportunity to remind them that their bodies are their own, and that seemingly small decisions can have long reaching side effects. If you choose to be sexually active, you can be exposed to HPV, which can lead to cervical cancer.
I know, I know, it's hard to tell a kid who will never be as old (or dorky, or is that just me?) as you about the future. It's...just...so...far...away.
So you could get the Gardasil shot and do away with the worries about a girl's (or a boy's) chastity. I mean, you've seen how they dress themselves. If we can't trust them with common sense on that, how can we ever trust that they'll have sense when it comes to other aspects of their bodies?! Got it.
If you're thinking about Gardasil, here's what you need to know first:
Bad Medicine. There have been adverse reactions reported about the Gardasil vaccine. Yesterday, CBS Evening News reported on girls who apparently were affected horribly by the shot. Adverse reactions include seizures, stroke, paralysis, neurological effects, and even death. Whee!
Watch CBS Videos Online
No way, says Gardasil maker Merck, the CDC, and the FDA (Aww, even our old friends at the Food and Drug Administration have taken time from their busy schedule ignoring creepy peanut factories to weigh in on vaccines. How nice!)
But an independent vaccine watchdog group, the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) disagrees with those big three. In a report, they compared adverse reactions for two vaccines: Gardasil versus a common one given for menengitis.
Gardasil had triple the number of ER visits (5,021 versus 1,667)...reports of side effects were up to 30 times higher.
Booster Club. We don't know how long or how often these chicas will need the shot. So far, one shot followed by two boosters are given to girls. It's recommended for 11 and 12 year old girls, pushed for 13-17 year olds. But we're not yet sure if the shot will give lifetime immunity to HPV, or if later more Gardasil shots will be needed. That would be a major problem in short term studies and quick-to-market drugs.
Marketing. I just love that name: Gardasil. It's like putting a chastity belt on your precious daughter. No one will get into her pants and give her a nasty ol' STD with Gardasil!
If we put as much money into marketing respect for our own bodies as the drug companies put into the amazing amount of pharma ads, we could have an impact. Not lame ads of the "This is your brain on drugs" variety. But again, if we make Choice the operative word, we may be onto something. As in, "Choose to be a righteous little babe. Choose to wait. Choose protection. Choose your partner wisely." Like, be as discerning about who you sleep with as you do when you pick that perfect lip shade. (No, seriously...have you been around a teen lately?!)
The costs. Put this all together, and you'll question whether it's worth it. The financial responsiblitiy for the $375 bump often rests on families, though some insurance companies are beginning to cover the shot.
HPV, the most common STD, could lead to sterility or cervical cancer. Each year, 4,000 women die of cervical cancer, or about .006 percent of the total cancer deaths.
Cost-benefit analysis: Is it worth it?
Perhaps youre lucky...for now. You're the parent of a young tot, and hopefully you can hold off on making this decision. I pray that by the time you do, there will be more information and long-term studies on the shot.
But if, like me, you have a teen girl in the house, you're hoping that you've put the fear of God into her--er, taught her to respect her own body when it comes to sex. And HPV will be the least of your parental worries.
Photo Love: ad-vantage on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.
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