Posted on 02/02/2007 1:28:44 PM PST by YCTHouston
Who have been partially vindicated by having the legal verdict against them vacated. They were not the only manufacturer of COX-2 inhibitors either.
That, imho, is the salient point. The disease (two strains of over 100 strains of HPV) which the vaccine is supposed to protect against is not transmissable except through optional behaviour. Not something you are likely to catch walking down the hall.
NOR is this an vaccine against cancer, but a virus which appears to lead to one variety of cervical cancer.
Chicken pox can be fatal to people on steroids or have immune problems.
My daughter with asthma used to have to put on steroids to control her asthma, so all of my children got the chicken pox vaccine.
I don't particularly think it should be mandatory, but it was worth it for us.
So you don't believe in anti-biotics or appendectomies or insulin?
why do you believe everything they tell you about this vaccine?
Who is this "they" you're referring to?
And you can only contract cholera from eating human excrement. Does that mean you'd be opposed to giving your kid the cholera vaccine if there were an epidemic?
The problem with communicable diseases is that one person's decision not to get vaccinated can affect other people. That's why kids without tuberculosis vaccinations aren't normally allowed to attend public schools in the developed world: because your choice supposedly affecting only your own child can lead to a great many other kids getting sick. If you don't give your daughter the HPV vaccine, not only are you threatening her own life (which I think, as a parent, is utterly irresponsible), but you're potentially threatening other people as well.
Or ingesting liquid or food that has been tainted by it.
Seriously - cut the hyperbole crap.
Nobody's daughter's life is being "threatened" in any normal sense of the word by not taking this vaccine. There are 150 million women in the United States and less than 10,000 cases of cervical cancer a year. The fatality rate is about 4,000 (40%), and about 9,000 (90%) of the cases are HPV related. Supposing this vaccine has a 70% prevention rate for HPV, that gives us 6,300 preventable HPV-related cervical cancer cases annually and about 2,500 preventable HPV-related cervical cancer fatalities.
IOW, the chance of a female in the United States dying from HPV-related cervical cancer in the next year is 2,500/150,000,000 or only 25 out of every 1.5 MILLION people.
Put another way, you have a better chance of dying from a coconut falling off a tree and hitting you on the head.
But you still have 10,000 people getting a completely preventable cancer each year. Again if you don't vaccinate her, you're putting your daughter at completely unnecessary risk. That's not hyperbole.
Actually 9,000, as roughly 90% of cervical cancer is HPV related. Either way though, it's a miniscule portion of a population of 150 million women. More people die from falling off a ladder every year than that, but I don't see you calling on the government to ban ladders.
Again if you don't vaccinate her, you're putting your daughter at completely unnecessary risk. That's not hyperbole.
Except that the "risk" you describe is so miniscule that it is exceeded in danger by many normal routine daily kids activities such as getting in the car, getting on the school bus, riding a bike, and climbing on the jungle gym. And that is why I say you are engaging in hyperbole.
leaving the house is an unecessary risk too.
That is only if she is sexually active. She's not endangering anyone's lives if she is not sexually active.
All in all its just another brick in the wall...
That's ignorant bull. It only takes one and sex isn't the only method of transfer.
Suppose your young daughter is raped by the pervert next door or Bill Clinton. Would you feel good about yourself if she gets cervical cancer because you opted her out of this vaccine?
Making it a "mandate" is a good idea and since you *can* "opt-out" it's not really a mandate to begin with.
Wake up! If she's raped and develops cervical cancer from an HPV infection, you be sure to tell your daughter that you didn't want to send the wrong message about sexual activity.
Unless you have her locked up in your basement you are completely ignoring the outside dangers to your daughter: perverts and rapists. Are they going to not assault her because she's 12 or 14 or still a virgin at 16? Get the vaccine because if she were raped and developed cervical cancer when you could've prevented that further horror, you will find it hard to live with yourself.
From HPV Vaccine: A Cornerstone of Female Health. Jonathan L Temte. American Family Physician. Kansas City: Jan 1, 2007.Vol.75, Iss. 1; pg. 28:
HPV is ubiquitous in human populations. Of the more than 40 serotypes of HPV known to cause genital infections, four (types 6, 11, 16, and 18) are responsible for approximately 70 percent of cervical cancer cases and 90 percent of genital wart cases in the United States.2 HPV acquisition occurs rapidly after the initiation of sexual activity. Fifty-four percent of females have been shown to have HPV infection within four years of first sexual intercourse.3 Moreover, sexual activity commences early in the United States: 29.3 percent of ninth-grade girls report prior sexual activity, a number that increases to 62.4 percent by 12th grade.4 Consequently, HPV infection is the most common sexually transmitted disease (STD) in American youth.5
HPV infection has significant consequences. In 2002, there were approximately 14,000 new cases of cervical cancer and 4,000 deaths from the disease, making it the 11th most common cancer in U.S. women.6 In addition, an estimated 300,000 high-grade and 1 million low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions are detected each year, leading to multiple follow-up visits and invasive procedures (e.g., colposcopies, cervical biopsies). HPV infection accounts for expenditures of more than $2 billion per year and significantly affects patient privacy and comfort.6
The HPV vaccine is extremely effective, especially when it is provided before acquisition of the targeted serotypes. The vaccine prevents over 95 percent of HPV infections caused by serotypes 6, 11, 16, and 18, thus blocking the initial pathogenic step that leads to 70 percent of cervical cancers.2
The "eighty percent by age fifty" figure comes from the CDC, here. I don't know where they got it from, but they provide sources if anyone cares to look.
Got me thinkin' all philosophical-like now...go Colts.
After reading the media reports, I decided to check the CDC for specific information. As you suspected, the 80% figure is media hype and I'm glad I reviewed the information.
From the CDC:
"Approximately 20 million Americans 15 to 49 years of
age (approximately 15% of the population) are currently infected with HPV.[5] Others may have been infected in the past and may no longer have the virus. About half of those who are infected with HPV are sexually active adolescents and young adults 15 to 24 years of age.[5] Between 5% and 30% of individuals infected with HPV are infected with multiple types of HPV.[6] Each year, about 6.2 million people in the U.S. become newly infected.[1]"
Citations:
1. Weinstock H, Berman S, Cates
W, Jr. Sexually transmitted diseases
among American youth: incidence
and prevalence estimates, 2000.
Perspect Sex Reprod Health. Jan-Feb
2004;36(1):6-10.
5. Cates W, Jr. Estimates of the
incidence and prevalence of sexually
transmitted diseases in the United
States. American Social Health
Association Panel. Sex Transm Dis.
1999;26(4):Suppl:S2-7.
6. Revzina NV, Diclemente RJ.
Prevalence and incidence of human
papillomavirus infection in women in
the USA: a systematic review. Int J
STD AIDS. 2005;16(8):528-537.
I also saw this little gem for those who believe that chastity is a foolproof preventative. I don't know if they mean 2% of infections are in virgin girls, or 2% of the virgin girls are infected (my guess). Either way, infections are occurring in virgins, although rare:
"Genital HPV infections are uncommon in women reporting
no previous sexual intercourse, appearing in less than 2% of
this population.[13, 14, 15]"
13. Winer RL, Lee SK, Hughes JP,
et al. Genital human papillomavirus
infection: incidence and risk factors
in a cohort of female university
students. Am J Epidemiol.
2003;157(3):218-226.
14. Rylander E, Ruusuvaara L,
Almstromer MW. The absence of
vaginal human papillomavirus 16 DNA
in women who have not experienced
sexual intercourse. Obstet Gynecol.
1994;83(5 Pt 1):735-737.
15. Kjaer S, Chackerian B, van de
Brule A, et al. High-risk human
papillomavirus is sexually transmitted:
evidence from a follow-up study
of virgins starting sexual activity.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev.
2001;10(2):101-106.
I agree that the use of statistical sampling is important for extrapolating to the whole population. However, these are not social studies, like 1 in 10 are gay or 1 in 4 are molested where it's a matter of personal perspective on a subjective questionnaire. This information is synthesized from physician reports in the way diseases are normally tracked. Now, if you want the specific methodologies, you can pay for the relevant articles and review them yourselves since I don't feel like forking out a couple of hundred bucks for all of them. I'm inclined to go with the peer review process for the publications.
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