Posted on 10/09/2008 8:42:34 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
ATLANTA (AP) — One in four teenage girls have received the relatively new vaccine against cervical cancer, federal health officials said Thursday.
The figures represent the government’s first substantial study of vaccination rates for the vaccine, Gardasil, which is Merck & Company’s heavily advertised three-shot series that goes after the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, or HPV. The vaccine protects against strains of the virus that cause about 70 percent of cervical cancers.
Health officials recommend that girls get the shots when they are 11 or 12, if possible, before they become sexually active. Also, 11 is the age when children are generally due for a round of vaccinations.
-SNIP-
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based the study on household telephone surveys in late 2007. The survey results cover from when the vaccine came on the market, in mid-2006, to when the survey questions were answered.
The results are based on nearly 3,000 girls ages 13 to 17 for whom the researchers could verify vaccination information through medical records.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I believe NONE of the garbage the CDC tells me.
It is outrageous that "officials" expect little girls will naturally be sexualy active, so we must "protect them" with this vaccine - the long term side effects of which are yet unknown.
Idiots here in Texas tried to push this through with legislation REQUIRING parents to force these shots on our girls.
Hell no. That got shot down in a hurry.
To me, this isn't the same thing as passing out rubbers.
Hell NO !!!
I really don't see what's so outrageous about expecting that girls will be sexually active. They always have been and humans would be extinct if they weren't.
If this can prevent cancer...
This is a BIG IF...
And even if it does prevent cancer, no one is denying the increase in teen sex that follow.
Not to mention the huge uprise in illnesses that were linked to it. The vaccine was banned in quite a few states due to the fact that so many girls got sick after getting the shot.
as long as girls and boys go to the same coed school and immersed in this oversexualized popular culture and have no problems with kissing and touching, you have to expect that at least some of them will ignore everything their parents teach them and give in.
Also this is only one form of cancer and it doesn't prevent all forms of it as well. How many women will no longer get pelvic exams because they think they are safe?
So long as it isn’t required I don’t see the problem. I highly doubt that high school girls will go out and have sex just because they had a vaccine. It won’t change their behavior a bit and could save them from a nasty disease. I’d have my daughter do it.
My 17 1/2 yr old and 16 yr old got the first shot in August. Their Doctor recommended it (and he has a daughter, we’re friends, so it isn’t about money or agenda for him). I trust his expertise. They also received the Meningitis (sp) shot...and eldest had a minor reaction.
Agreed. I also agree that the vaccine shouldn't be mandatory.
People need to get past the stupid ass thought process that a shot or not a shot is going to in some silly ass way instill morals and judgement.
The issue here is the availability of a vaccine that apparently is succeful in activating the body's natual responses to attack and destroy a viral infection which can lead to the development of a cancer.
If people don't want their kids humping everything in sight - teach them to have the respect for themselves not to do so and wait for a meaninful relationship.
Otherwise, chill the hell out on (the voluntary use of) a vaccine that might save someones life.
“And even if it does prevent cancer, no one is denying the increase in teen sex that follow. “
I think thats garbage. Kids have always and will always have sex and they also don’t think about long-term low probability things like cancer when they do.
OK, so wait a minute...
If they find a vaccine for HIV tomorrow, and it is proven to prevent the disease, you would not give it to your children?
So fear of disease is the only thing to prevent kids from having sex? Therefore we should not find cures for disease....is that what you are saying?
Great post.
Ah, but is IS REQUIRED. For some....
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5joRRCZn_Du7r-_F3AFHt3eicyQ1gD93IMS1O0
And soon - tolerant attitudes everywhere will lead to MANDATORY vaccines as our Dear Leaders want.
“If they find a vaccine for HIV tomorrow, and it is proven to prevent the disease, you would not give it to your children?
So fear of disease is the only thing to prevent kids from having sex? Therefore we should not find cures for disease....is that what you are saying?”
Seems to be.
Fair question.
And I’ll answer that when you tell me that you are OK with providing condoms for your 14 year old girl.
Cause she IS having sex, right?
Is the boy from a nice family?
“And I’ll answer that when you tell me that you are OK with providing condoms for your 14 year old girl.”
Talk about weird logic. There is a gigantic difference between a condom and a vaccine. If a kid has a condom it has one purpose that it will be used for and it will encourage sex. Having a vaccine won’t. I guarantee you that girls aren’t making decisions on sexual matters based on whether or not they have a vaccine for a rare disease.
Yeah, because the thought of potentially getting cervical cancer umpteen years down the road is so much more powerful than an unplanned pregnacy, AIDS, herpes, syphilis, etc.
Get real here, the vaccine might save lives. If you have information that it is not safe, post it.
Otherwise, pull your head out of the sand long enough to realize that the availability of a vaccine which could prevent a horrible disease that pretty much every kid has no clue about has virtually no influence on the decisions that kids make.
The best approach is to teach kids that a meaninful monogomous relationship is not only important from a disease perspective, but more importantly, the most rewarding relationship they will have.
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