Outrage over Vaccine?

Question

I have a question for all of you in R&S that think cervical cancer is some disease that is striking down hundreds of thousands of women each year.

Do you actually know how prevelant cervical cancer is?

Ovarian Cancer is listed as a rare disease. It is also a silent killer. 1 in about 12,000 women this year will develop this deadly and heartless assilant. And many will not know until they are in stage three or four of the cancer.

Cervical cancer affects 1 in about 21,000 women. And HPV is easily detectable on a yearly pap smear, easily treated and cervical cancer can be avoided.

Seeing that Ovarian cancer is rare -then Cervical cancer is almsot unheard of.

So why should parents be forced to treat their children with a vaccine? Why should it be mandatory?

And why do you disagree with the Christian groups who say that this is something that can be prevented - if one abstains. I did. Why not teach self control instead?

Answer 1

A Pap smear can easily miss abnormal cell changes as often as 50% of the time.
http://www.arhp.org/PapResults/

Here in the US we have dramatically reduced cervical cancers…this is due to our screening and early treatment programs. World wide the statistics are not as good cervical cancer is the second leading cause of death of women. 3,600 women will die this year. 11,150 women this year will develop cervical cancer but it is estimated that 4 times this number develop carcinoma in situ.
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_1X_What_are_the_key_statistics_for_cervical_cancer_8.asp?rnav=cri

You clearly have never gone though treatments for this virus. Burning cutting and laser of our most private parts is painful and traumatic....I did not find my treatments easy.

Recurrent Respirator Papilloma is transmitted from mother to child during child birth...the treatment a child endures is horrific. Rare but possible is formit transfer, you can also acquire HPV with during hand to genital foreplay.

What about the other cancers that are being linked to high risk HPV types, oral, head and neck, anal vulva and vaginal cancers...the vaccine will help prevent some of these cancers.

Most states allow parent to opt out for any vaccine...but I am unsure why any mother would allow the risk of her child enduring the finical and emotion burden of HPV when she could have prevented it. A virgin can obtain it on her wedding night...if her partner had one other sex partner.

I feel that teaching young people about HPV is as important as teaching abstinence...unfortunately we have been teaching abstinence for years now and the rate of STI has done nothing but climb...teen pregnancy continue...teaching abstinence hasn't worked thus far...

I personal feel if we need to teach sexual education…..is will be more productive....and yes more women need to be educated about the signs of Ovarian cancers...Education holds our key...

Answer 2

Ovarian cancer is NOT sexually transmitted.
Cervical cancer IS sexually transmitted.
So is HPV.
The problem is that men don't have symptoms and can be carriers.
Very often the people who get cervical cancer are not the same people who get HPV.

Abstinance is NOT going to cure or prevent this unless MEN also abstain & are virgins when they marry... if a woman marrys a man who has been with someone else he can carry the virus & give it to his new virgin wife and not even know it.
THAT IS WHY A VACCINE IS GOOD.

Why do youget vaccinated for measles? It doesn't kill you. Neither do mumps, chicken pox, or 99% of the things we vaccinate kids for.
The reason we vaccinate is to ERADICATE a disease. if we can vaccinate enough people over a long enough time, we can virtually eradicate a disease. Look at polio. It is almost non-existant now all over the world. Even 3rd world countries.
That is why.

Answer 3

I find it hard to understand why some self described "Christians" oppose a safe, effective intervention to prevent a disease that causes significant suffering.

About 1 in a hundred women will get cervical cancer during their lives. This is despite widespread screening programs to pick up HPV disease BEFORE is develops into invasive cancer. Yes, there are commoner diseases than cervical cancer. That doesn't mean we should ignore it. If there were vaccines to prevent ovarian cancer or breast cancer I'd support these, too.

No, HPV vaccine shouldn't be mandatory, and it isn't, except in one US state that has generous opt out provisions.

And yes, if you want to prevent cervical cancer yourself by abstaining from sex for life, then that's your choice.

Answer 4

About 12,000 women will develop invasive cervical cancer in 2007, with about 3,100 death. Approximately 20 million people are currently infected with HPV. At least 50 percent of sexually active men and women acquire genital HPV infection at some point in their lives. By age 50, at least 80 percent of women will have acquired genital HPV infection. About 6.2 million Americans get a new genital HPV infection each year.

There is no cure for HPV. In most women (>90%) the infection will become undetectable after about 24 months (if reinfection does not occur). So, in most women the infection goes away on its own. Most HPV infections cause no symptoms either immediate or long term.

Most women are diagnosed with HPV on the basis of abnormal Pap tests. A Pap test is the primary cancer-screening tool for cervical cancer or pre-cancerous changes in the cervix, many of which are related to HPV. Also, a specific test is available to detect HPV DNA in women. The test may be used in women with mild Pap test abnormalities, or in women >30 years of age at the time of Pap testing.

In Tennessee, where I live, about 1 million adults have no health insurance. About 50% are women, and they will have 1 pap smear between the ages of 21 and 55.

The last case of polio in the USA was 1979. Polio vaccination is required in the USA of all children (with a very few exceptions). In 2003, there were only 730 polio infections world wide. Low incidence of a disease is not necessarily a reason to avoid vaccination.

The *surest* way to eliminate risk for genital HPV infection is to refrain from any genital contact with another individual.

For those who choose to be sexually active, a long-term, mutually monogamous relationship with an uninfected partner is the strategy most likely to prevent future genital HPV infections. However, it is difficult to determine whether a partner who has been sexually active in the past is currently infected.

Lastly, people make mistakes, especially young people. To have a prevention for a disease that can lead to terrible consequences and to not use that prevention is unconscionable.

HTH

Charles

Answer 5

If there was a vaccine for ovarian cancer, or reliable tests, would you be against that as well? Cervical cancer can be caused by HPV, true, but if there is a vaccine that prevents it, then, by all means, prevent it.

Why should a woman be punished for "sinning" by being stricken with cancer?

Answer 6

Almost all cervical cancer is preventable. That is why. The Pap smear resulted in a tenfold decrease in cervical carcinoma, and resulted in detection at earlier stages. The 12,000 per year was over 100,000.

Treatment for precancerous cervical lesions can result in inability to carry a pregnancy to term, so your definition of "easily" is rather flippant.

There is no virus associated with ovarian carcinoma, and thus no vaccine.

I disagree with any Christian groups who favor death and suffering to advance their political agendas.

Answer 7

There is an element out there which believes the govt. should run our lives, outlawing those things it deems unsafe and promoting those things it determines positive. Now we have pharma companies lobbying to have their products made legally mandatory. How great of a sales technique is that? Make a product. Pay off some crooked legislators who make a law mandating that the public consume that product and you have major profits. So, as time goes on, we will lose more and more freedoms to an all powerful govt which is corrupt and can be manipulated to force you to purchase and consume and have injected into your body, products which you do not desire and which might harm or kill you. Sad.

Answer 8

Yes teaching self control and abstinence to our children is the right thing to do. BUT, The VACCINE is a good thing. As adults we shouldn't bury our heads in the sand. There are alot of different opinions out there, but, one has to consider the chance of sex being forced on a girl and boom she gets the virus. I know from experience...I had that happen to me, years later I had to have a complete hysterectomy. I am still child bearing age but due to the virus it stold my ability. I think as Christians we are destroyed due to ignorance. Jesus said my people perish for lack of knowledge.
Rev. Michelle

Answer 9

Polio effects less than that and yet you still get them vaccinated for that. Why turn down a vaccination?

Self control has NOTHING to do with accidents or loving relationships. I don't think I have ever been tested for HPV as a man so how exactly would I know if I am a carrier?

Answer 10

I believe that you asked several questions in there. I will simply answer one.
Yes , the vaccine could be a good thing. No , I do not think it should be mandatory, but a choice of the parents.