Adman, with all due respect you're wrong. With the HPVit will not virtually eliminate cervical cancer, smoking and other lifestyle habits also cause cervical cancer. And also comparing it to polio is also a bit askew. Polio was easily communicable person to person, i.e water, food etc. A totally different transmission. HPV can be transmitted by sex alone and is classified as an std. Most forms of HPV do not cause cervical cancer. With 14000 cases of cervical cancer reported each year and sorry to say over 5000 deaths, this is not empidemic as with polio.
This affects women on many age levels, so why are parents being forced in Texas to have their daughters innoculated? Whenthe government becomes the parents you'll have problems. How about teaching your sons and daughters abstinence. That guarantees they won't get the virus. The jury is still out on this vaccination and many doctors are debating the effectiveness of it. There hasn't been that long of testing. Though when you really dig out the truth you do find one thing conclusive. The governor of Texas has a buddy that is involved With Merck. There I go again, follow the money trail. Now it's really getting hard to tell the democrats and republicans apart. This is all about money, and control over our daily lives. There is no humanitarian aspect to this. I mean instead of just young school aged women, how about we force all women to have this vaccination? How come we haven't heard the feminist battle cry, it's ourbody and we have the right to choose? Because it's about control.
I think Branson should give 25 million dollars to the scientist that discovers a cure for stupidity. More people are killed in car accidents than by the HPV virus. Though He and Al "The Tree hugger" Gore have no problem with lecturing us on global warming while one owns and airline and the other bops around the world telling us how screwed up we have made the enviroment while flying in jets. I think Al should drive a Prius and really set a good example for all of us.
So Adman, before you think this post was flaming you, it's not. You're just a little mis-informed. When you give up freedom for security you deserve neither.
As a health care professional, I thought I'd chime in re the HPV vaccine. You are both partially correct from a medical standpoint. There are perhaps 40 different HPV viruses that will infect a human. Some can cause cancer, some cannot. We have identifed most of the ones that are high risk for causing cancer of the cervix. The Gardisil vaccine will protect against infection by 70% of the cancer causeing HPV viruses, so theoretically it is expected to decrease a woman's risk of developing cancer of the cervix by 70%. Any tool that can decrease a given cancer by 70% is considered a major advance in medicine, ethical/moral issues aside.
Cervical cancer is not considered "epidemic", but that is partly because the Pap smear screening program and our ability to treat "pre-cancerous" tissue of the cervix both help prevent cancer from developing in the cervix. Some gynecologists are a bit nervous about the vaccine, because it will dramatically decrease their number of colposcopy procedures in the office to evaluate abnormal Pap smears. The drug company manufacturer of the vaccine, however, will make a huge amount of money.
90% of women (and of course also men) will contract an HPV virus sometime in their lives, most commonly in their teens or twenties. nasfan is also correct in that smoking and other lifestyle issues can affect one's risk of the HPV causing cancer of the cervix, because it is the woman's own immune system that can eventually eradicate the virus from her body, or at least to undetectable levels, usually within two years. The cancer causing viruses are more difficult for her to eradicate, and its persistence can then lead to cancer.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has endorsed the vaccination of young women and girls, despite the financial hardship to its physician members. As to whether the government has some hidden agenda, I have no opinion. Certainly there are ethical issues about giving the vaccine to grade school children.
Your post goes a long way to help explain to Nas, why the vac is only given to children.
The vaccination is useless for those that already have the virus.
The HPV virus is extremely contagious, more so than polio. So contagious in fact, that condoms are next to useless in preventing contamination. With a 90% HPV exposure rate amongst adults, the vaccination is useless to most people that are sexually active. Therefore the most likely people that will benefit from the vaccination, are only those that have not had sex, (children).
So do we give this "major medical advance" to our children or do we throw it in the bin?????
I think those that have "ethical issues" with this, are either irresponsible as parents or belong to that flat earth society.
Flat earth society? I laugh. I love you socialists trying to push agendas down peoples throats. The information I recieved, Like Philly above is from my wifes gynecologist, who is also a teacher at IU. He will concurr with Philly above on the Pap Smears. We got in this discussion in his office over 2 weeks ago.
Gee Adman, Do we remember Vioxx? Only two people that will make money out of this is Merck and the ambulance chasers here in the states. Quit being so naive.
Nas Your conspiracy theories are also mildly amusing;))
What are you afraid of? Will the trumpet sound and all the vaccinated girls be gathered up and sold into white slavery?
And God forbid that someone makes a dollar. I thought this was America
I don't have a problem with making a buck. I have a problem when a governor issues an executive order making law. No even running it through the state house. This is still a representative government here and only one person spoke. Uncle Scam has tried being the father here in the states to long and are children are dumbed down enough in public schools. So Merck+Buddy+Governor= executive order, sounds like to much conflict on interest to me.
I have little conspiracy theory except the consitution of the United States which has become a mystery to many in this country lately.
I don't need government for anything except defense of this country. I've never used a government handout in my life and I'm not going to start at 48