Sorry just funnin'ya and I just learned how to post pics and wanted to post this one.
Posted on 06/23/2006 7:21:19 AM PDT by veronica
An Israeli-born doctor stands at the head of team from pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. Inc. who announced this week the FDA approval of the first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer
Senior director of Clinical Research, Merck Research Laboratories Dr. Eliav Barr, originally from Haifa, said about bout the genetically engineered vaccine Gardasil, "This is the first time we have been able to state that administration of the vaccine is going to have an effect on cervical cancer."
In the United States, almost 10,000 women develop cervical cancer each year, leading to 3,000 deaths. In the developing world, the problem is far worse, probably because women are less likely to get screenings that can catch unusual growths before they become cancerous. Worldwide, cervical cancer kills 300,000 women a year.
Almost all the cases of cervical cancer are caused by infection with the human papilloma virus, or HPV, which causes normal cells to multiply out of control. Some strains of HPV lead to cancer (two strains account for 70% of cervical cancers), and others cause genital warts.
Because cervical cancer does not occur in women who have not contracted HPV, Merck, under Barr's guidance, has developed what is essentially the world's first cancer vaccine.
Public health experts called the Gardasil vaccine a major advance against the disease. "This vaccine is a significant advance in the protection of women's health in that it strikes at the infections that are the root cause of many cervical cancers," acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach told Reuters.
Given in three doses over six months, Gardasil targets four HPV types believed to cause more than 70 percent of cervical cancer cases and 90 percent of genital warts. The vaccine was approved for use in girls and women ages 9 to 26, Merck said.
Barr started his medical career as a cardiologist. So it was quite a shift in the mid-1990s when his employer, Merck, asked Barr to join a team that was developing an HPV vaccine.
"I had to go look up what HPV meant," Barr, 42, told The Intelligencer. "This is about as far as you can get from medicine."
Barr said he's overwhelmed by the feeling that he's helped develop something that will save millions of lives.
"It's very difficult to describe," Barr said. "One gets very emotional. It's really a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing."
The biggest challenge for Gardasil comes because of the target market: adolescent girls. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, and some 20 million American men and women have it. To prevent women from getting cervical cancer, women must be inoculated before they become sexually active. But for some parents and religious groups, that might be a touchy question.
Merck's Barr says that won't be a problem. "You have to understand what's at stake here," he told Forbes. "Regardless of your background, as a parent, you want to be able to protect your child against cancer."
Sorry just funnin'ya and I just learned how to post pics and wanted to post this one.
It is fun posting pictures. I haven't posted one in so long I can't remember the last one I did. Maybe I'll blow the dust off my photobucket and start again. lol
I suppose we should buy alcohol for them too, in addition to purchasing condoms and providing other means of birth control. We also shouldn't have a problem with drugs...as all the kids are doing it. This mentality is SO MISGUIDED.
why is that a bad thing?
if you say actions should have consequences, then should we withhold all corrective measures for consequences of actions we don't approve? No cholesterol reduction pill for people who ate too much fatty food, no cold medicine for kids who played too long in the rain, no help for the idiot who jaywalked and got ran over by a bus, no vaccine for AIDS because we're sure they all deserve the disease, no dental fillings for the guy who didn't brush and floss properly, ...
Well about alcohol: I believe that the scare tactics used against alcohol drinking are backfiring. Today we forbid them to drink until they are 21, then they go into binge drinking...
If you introduce them to drinking in a family environment, then they learn drinking responsibly...
"You don't just catch this cancer, it comes from having promiscuous sex outside of marriage.
"
Yes, yes....or it comes from having sex with just one partner who somehow managed to become infected with the virus at some point.
Or it comes from being sexually assaulted by someone who has this virus.
You are aware (well, maybe you are not) that HPV is pretty much symptomless in men? That means that your sweet virginal daughter's bridegroom, who may not be as virginal as she is, could be carrying HPV as they walk down the aisle.
Get informed. It could save your daughter's life.
Transmission of HPV through routes other than sexual is definitely possible. One may be exposed to HPV simply by shaking hands as suggested in the finding of HPV virus under fingernails.
Sexually Transmitted Infections 1999 Oct;75(5):317-9:
Detection of human papillomavirus DNA on the fingers of patients with genital warts.
Sonnex C, Strauss S, Gray JJ, Department of GU Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, England.
“14 men and eight women with genital warts had cytobrush samples taken from genital lesions, finger tips, and tips of finger nails. Samples were examined for the presence of HPV DNA by the polymerase chain reaction.
HPV DNA was detected in all female genital samples and in 13/14 male genital samples. HPV DNA was detected in the finger brush samples of three women and nine men. The same HPV type was identified in genital and hand samples in one woman and five men.
This study has identified hand carriage of genital HPV types in patients with genital warts. Although sexual intercourse is considered the usual mode of transmitting genital HPV infection, our findings raise the possibility of transmission by finger-genital contact.”
"Perhaps you need to be more selective in what KIND of a school it is. Ours go to a wonderful Christian school. "
what the heck difference does it make if he's Isreali or not?
who cares?!
"Guess she'll just have to keep her fingers crossed!"
Or her legs. (I simply could not resist).
They like to toss insults at people for no reason.
Best to ignore the troll.
"I don't think they want that... If she gets cancer, they'll tell she deserved it..."
So are you sugesting we shouldn't shake hands with anyone?
What are the stats on this form or transmission?
BTW, the thread is about cervical cancer
No, it is about a vaccine against HPV which is the cause of cervical cancer....
No, it is about a vaccine against HPV which is the cause of cervical cancer....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.