Thursday, August 20, 2009

Gardasil Controversy

From: WaitforyourMate.com

If you haven’t seen it already, this Good Morning America segment addresses new evidence about the risks of Gardasil, a vaccine approved by the FDA in 2006 to prevent the cancer-causing STD human papillomavirus (HPV).

When it was approved, the CDC and FDA recommended girls (at risk for developing cervical cancer if they are infected with HPV) become vaccinated as early as 11 years old. In the last three years, GMA reports, 7 million Americans have been vaccinated. Of those, 772 cases of serious side effects have been recorded, including 32 deaths.

For concerned parents, this report may be cause to do more research before vaccinating your children. In addition, some parents feel that talking to their teen about sex, in addition to teaching self-control and delay of gratification will keep their child safe from having sex before marriage and thus save them from ALL risks of STDs, including HPV and the resulting cervical cancer.

Read more from Journal of the American Medical Association. It's a great editorial that asks some needed questions!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Just because my child abstains from sex until marraige doesn't guarentee her an STD free life. Her partner may not have abstained. One of them may have been raped or abused in some way. They may have engaged in sexual play that didn't include sex, but included skin to skin contact which can transmit STD's. Her husband could cheat on her. I think it's overly simplistic to assume that if you wait to have sex until marraige that you're 100% safe. Life isn't black and white and we never know what will happen. For this reason alone, some moms who do "all the right things" to get their daughters to practice abstinance will still choose to get their daughters vaccinated. Are there risks? Of course. The Measles/Mumps/Rubella vaccine has risks and rare cases of death. Parents who vaccinate their children weigh the possible risks with the benefits. I'd rather not see my daughter with cervical cancer, and for me, that's worth the risk. Getting the vaccine doesn't mean I still can't teach her values and morals. Please don't insult the intelligence of your readers.