Human Sexuality
Reflection Paper 2
Governor Rick Perry decided to make a mandate on the vaccine for HPV. The vaccine was to be given to young girls starting at age 11-12. Michele Bachmann believed that this was very wrong. She argued that young girls should have the choice to take theses vaccinations, as the vaccine can lead to horrible side effects. Rick Perry, argued that he did everything out of the respect for life, and prolonging it. Michelle Bachmann believes he used his push for mandates on the vaccine as a way to make money.
I think the main message the American Academy of Pediatrics is trying to get across is, that nothing should be forced on anyone. That being said the HPV vaccine can be very beneficial to women and young girls. The vaccine seems to be more successful when taken by girls ages 11-12. Many people don't realize that a very high number of women get affected with HPV and that HPV is a leading cause for cervical cancer and death from cervical cancer.
Use of the vaccine for hpv was already at a low because there is a new found fear against vaccinating period. It is also found that many parents fear that vaccinating their young daughters might imply or suggest that their daughters should go have sex.
When vaccine scares lead to lower rates of vaccination, there may be a spike in that certain disease. This of course in return scares parents into vaccinating which ups the amount of vaccinations. This can work for diseases that are curable, however since HPV takes so long to detect people get infected and don't know until it’s too late. Generally that means cervical cancer.
Three states that have the highest hpv vaccine rate are Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and South Dakota. Three states that have a low hpv vaccine rate included Idaho, Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama.
The vaccine for hpv are lower than vaccine rates for other shots that came out around the same time because parents seem to label it as a vaccine that promotes sex. The vaccine is to prevent a sexually transmitted disease so when parents are asked if their 11-12 year old wants the vaccine, many parents are against it. Parents don't seem to view it as preventing a STD at that point, but preventing their daughters from taking a step into possibly becoming sexually active at a young age. This of course is every parents fear. On another note somewhere along the line it was suggested that the hpv vaccine may cause some damage, such as autism. There have been no studies to prove a correlation between this, however, this may be another reason as to why there is a hesitation to vaccinate.
Health experts argue that many people do get cervical cancer. Many people don't realize how common hpv is to contract and certain strains are extremely high risk for causing cancer. Yes, there are many things that can be done to attempt to stop cancer from forming, but some of the procedures that are done to do so are painful and could cause women to have a hard time carrying pregnancies to full term.
Gardasil helps protect against four types of HPV. These four types consist of types 16 and 18, as well as types 6 and 11. Gardasil helps vaccinate against these strains that cause cervical cancer. Gardasil can also help protect against the strain that may cause genital warts. It can also help protect against vaginal and vulvar cancer. It is important to note that Gardasil cannot prevent any of these symptoms of HPV.
According to the CDC boys and girls ages 11 to 12 should get vaccinated against HPV. They also recommend that women age 13 to 26 and males 13 to 21 get vaccinated if they have not been vaccinated. Males can receive the vaccine at age 22 to 26 as well.
The drug, Gardasil is administered in three doses over a 6 month time frame. The first dose is given initially and the second dose is given 2 months later. The last and final dose in then given on the 6 month mark from the day the first dose was administered.
Common side effects that have been