The Politics of Vaccination

Some of us are cautious simply on the basis that it's a new vaccine, and it doesn't have a track record behind it yet. Personally, I'm a bit slow to warm to the thought that I'd be injecting my daughter with a virus that we just don't have the long term effects of. Will this end up causing a different cancer, or the same cancer, many years down the road?

I also think that it gives young women a sense of invincibility, ie: I've had the shot, I'm on the pill, he doesn't have HIV, I can have condom-less sex. This just isn't the case, as only 4 of the 100 or so HPV strains are covered by this vaccine (granted, those 4 strains cause approximately 70% of the HVP induced cervical cancers).

I think what has bothered me most lately is that, as the vaccine was gearing up to be introduced, the PSA's about HPV causing cancer cropped up. HPV has been a known cause of cervical cancer for quite some time, but it has been one of those footnotes of protected sex. I did work with an HIV action agency in the early 90's, and while we spoke about STDs in general, it was all HIV and HepB. HPV was mentioned in passing, if at all.

I believe we've done our daughters (and ourselves) a disservice by not emphasizing the dangers, and the rampant abundance, of the HPV virus. I would hate to further that harm by injecting something into her body which just hasn't yet been proven to be harmless.

Obviously, I'm torn on the issue - but my daughter is only eight - I have a few years to wait and watch. For myself, I believe I've already contracted HPV, and am just on watch-and-wait. [Related sidenote/question: Our local news, when doing the story a week or so before the vaccine was released, mentioned that it may increase the risk of cancer in women who had already contracted HPV - I haven't been able to verify this via the web, so if anyone comes across such information, could you pass it along? Thanks.]

IOP
Inside-Out Panties ( http://insideoutpanties.wordpress.com )

[Edited to add]: I'm also one of those folks who have pretty severe reactions to any vaccination that I have - and those that I don't have a reaction to are ineffective. I've been put in the hospital for tetnus boosters; have had whooping cough, measles, and mumps; and I have no resistance to rubella, which forced me to stay away from nearly everyone during my pregnancies. Therefore I have even more cause to weigh potential risks v. potential benefits.

If by some miracle, an HIV vaccine is created, will the same group of anti-HPV vaccination folks be anti HIV virus, too? For the same reasons or types of reasons?

~Denise
Daily Dose of Denise ( http://flamingohouse.blogs.com )

I really don't get the opposition to the vaccine.

I mean think about it - if you get vaccinated for tetanus, you don't all of a sudden feel like hammering rusty nails into yourself, do you? And if you are vaccinated for cholera, you don't all of a sudden have the urge to go drink dirty water, do you?

Jules

BlogHer Contributing Editor, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania ( http://www.blogher.com/topic/world/australia-nz-oc... )
Dragongirl blog ( http://www.dragongirl76.blogspot.com )