It’s unfortunate that a “government medical panel” is associated with this recommendation.
The Associated Press reports,
The controversial HPV shot given to girls should also be given to boys, in part to help prevent the spread of the virus through sex, a government medical panel said Tuesday.
The expensive vaccine, which protects females against cervical cancer, hasn’t been popular. And doctors admit it will be a tough sell to parents of 11- and 12-year-old males, too.
This makes a lot more sense than vaccinating kids against anthrax.
usually I’m totally on board with saying that the government should stay the hell out of our lives, but vaccinations are one example of what I consider to be a very successful government policy. And just so i don’t get a bunch of snarky replies about how i never had to pay the consequences of a bad vaccination, I’ll go ahead and let you in on a little secret – I got polio from the live polio vaccine that they used to give out. It was mild case, but it has left me with lifelong problems in my hips. Worse yet, docotrs were unwilling to admit that the vaccine gave me polio, so depsite the fact that i stopped walking for a year and had to undergo physical therapy to rebuild my leg muscles and joints, they wouldn’t admit it until the truth came out a few years ago.
That being said, I would rather deal with a mild case of polio than deal with the polio epidemic that our forefathers suffered through. And I’d rather get a vaccine now, whether it is proven to last or not, to prevent getting a disease that can cause cancer, than wait to see if it lasts and then end up with the disease. Parents, I hate to break it to you, but society today nearly gurantees that your daughter will have more than one sexual partner, and even if she does, there is no gurantee that her life long partner was a virgin when they hooked up. Protect your daughters, for cripes sake! I can’t for the life of me figure out why people vaccinate their kids for all manner of deadly diseases without a second thought, but the fact that this one vaccine is for a *GASP* sexually transmitted disease, that there is some huge controversy here.
I find it questionable still. While Gardasil is a lot better tested than when our “beloved” governor mandated it, It’s mutli-decadal persistence is still unknown, and I am holding off getting my daughter vaccinated until this data is in. I think it is till premature to advocate mass or mandatory immunizations.
It’s unfortunate because rather than giving the recommendation au aura of credibility, “government panel” instead brings to mind politics and a lack of credibility.
Why is it unfortunate?
I would have thought it sensible.
Not only do the boys get protected against some forms of cancer, they partners, even if not vaccinated will also get a measure of protection (some of them.
Of course, if you wanted to avoid HPV one could recommend either abstinence or sexual contacts who have had Gardasil.