A Mommy Story

You’ve probably heard a lot about the Texas governor signing an executive order, making it required for all girls in Texas to be vaccinated with the HPV vaccine Gardasil before entering sixth grade. The controversy surrounding it has spread to other states, and now a state representative in Ohio is proposing that Ohio follow the lead of Texas and require the vaccine for all girls here as well.

At our monthly Moms Night Out dinner, we discussed the issues surrounding this. I gave my opinion right up front: I’m completely, totally against any state legislation requiring this vaccine. The others seemed surprised by my answer, but I assured them it wasn’t based on moral issues.

I have no moral objections against this vaccine. The idea that it would encourage girls to become sexually active younger or would make it more likely for girls to practice unsafe sex is ridiculous to me. If I’m vaccinated against Hepatitis B, does that make me more likely to share needles with drug users? The threat of a relatively minor STD (yes, some strains lead to cancer, but young girls really don’t think about getting cancer) isn’t enough to scare a girl away from sex if she really wants to do it, especially when condoms are available. I think pregnancy would be more of a fear than HPV.

My objections with Gardasil mainly involve the rush this vaccine went through to get to market quickly, and the questionable ties being made between Merck, the vaccine manufacturer, and politicians.

Don’t get me wrong: A vaccine against the types of HPV that can cause cervical cancer is a great thing. Cervical cancer affects a relatively small number of women each year, far, far less than breast cancer, although it’s devastating if you happen to be one of those women.

However, the Gardasil commercials would lead you to believe that every woman who contracts HPV has a high chance of developing cervical cancer. There are over one hundred different strains of HPV – only a couple of them have been shown to have a connection with cervical cancer. So while this vaccine is a good thing, your actual chances of ever developing cervical cancer are small. Slightly better odds than winning the lottery, but far more likely to die from another cancer, heart disease, or just be killed in an accident.

The problem is once this vaccine was created, it was rushed out to market. No long term studies have been conducted to see if the vaccine’s effectiveness wanes after five years. Which means if the vaccine is given to girls entering sixth grade, roughly 11 years old, they could have no immunity to HPV by the time they are 16, an age when more girls are likely to become sexually active. And little research has been done to look for long-term side effects that may not appear until long after the vaccine is given.

Side note: the chicken pox vaccine, once thought to be a one-time shot, is already going down this path. It’s possible that boosters are required, although it was not known at the time it hit the market. Meaning some who are vaccinated as children may be immune as children, but then contract chicken pox as adults, when the virus is deadlier, especially to the fetus of a pregnant woman. Makes me think it’s better to go through the uncomfortable, yet mostly harmless, virus as a child, than take risks of becoming very ill as an adult.

The money issue can’t be ignored, either. Many already know the Texas governor had ties to Merck – ties involving a lot of money. But the millions of dollars Merck is throwing at states to convince them to make this vaccine mandatory, along with the millions put into advertising to convince the public that this is a necessary vaccine are important, too. Merck stands to make billions off of this vaccine, so of course they are pulling out every scare tactic possible to sway the public to their side. It’s the most expensive vaccine out there right now: $360, which isn’t covered by all insurances. States who make it mandatory would likely pick up the tab for the uninsured. Now multiple $360 times every girl entering sixth grade in several states, and you can see the incredible profit coming from this year after year.

As I said, I think the vaccine is a good thing. Yes, they are trying to make the largest profits they can, but Merck is a medical research organization that helps in finding new drugs to make us a healthier society. But the research for this particular immunization is not complete, and certainly not enough to warrant mandatory vaccination. At the moment, studies on Gardasil should continue, and the issue of whether or not to use the vaccine should be left to a patient and her doctor to decide together.

I went through my own cervical cancer scare when I was in my early 20’s. I had to undergo a biopsy, wait for results (which resulted in inconclusive abnormal cells, possibly pre-cancerous), and go for follow up checks every three months for over a year to make sure I was in the clear. It was a frightening process to be faced with the possibility of cancer while I was so young, and to come to terms with the fact that I might be unable to have children if cancerous cells did develop.

Would I have taken the vaccine if it was available then? Probably not, because I never thought I’d contract HPV, considered the number of sexual partners I’d had could be counted on one hand, and the hand of a shop instructor missing a few fingers at that.

Is it something I want my daughters to have at 11 years old? No way, or at least not until it has been thoroughly studied, which it may be by then. If not, I’ll rely on the old-fashioned method of keeping them safe: actually talking with them about sex and protecting themselves, and working to keep an open dialogue so they feel comfortable coming to me with questions.

There’s a ton of facts out there about Gardasil, HPV, and cervical cancer, far more than I have time to link to here with a toddler begging me for a banana. Luckily, Julie summed it up very well, so I’ll send you over to read what she had to say.