Gardasil , the Hpv Vaccine

You will not continue to 'pass it back and forth' between partners. If you have a particular strain of hpv, your partner has it too.

They want to give shots to girls who are not sexually active, that is when it will have the best chance of working to prevent cervical cancer.

We live in a society today that we don't have the same worries about death from cervical cancer but it happens every day. This is death prevention. I agree, if you don't want the shot, you shouldn't be forced to get it. However, if someone elected not to get the shot and ended up with cervical cancer that could have prevented it, that would be ironic, wouldn't it?

cervical cancer is the major cause of cancer deaths in women in many developing countries

About 3,670 women will die from cervical cancer in the United States during 2007. Cervical cancer was once one of the most common causes of cancer death for American women. Between 1955 and 1992, the number of cervical cancer deaths in the United States dropped by 74%. The main reason for this change is the increased use of the Pap test.

my understanding of viruses, which is admittedly very limited, is that your body creates antibodies to it which deactivate or kill it off. that's why the antibodies will be present if you have had the virus before and you don't have to wait for your body to produce them a second time. some viruses will mutate constantly or otherwise trick the body's immune system so that it can't produce antibodies fast enough or it can't produce the right ones to effectively deal with the virus. some viruses stay the same so they can be dealt with by vaccination.

Thank you for clarifying that, .Ingi.

From Yahoo! health:

Even if you are treated to remove visible warts or your warts go away without treatment, the HPV infection is not cured; it remains in your body's cells.

Even with treatment for genital warts, you still may be able to spread the infection. Condoms may help reduce the risk of spreading the infection, but they do not fully protect against genital contact.

Ingi Wrote:

About 3,670 women will die from cervical cancer in the United States during 2007. Cervical cancer was once one of the most common causes of cancer death for American women. Between 1955 and 1992, the number of cervical cancer deaths in the United States dropped by 74%. The main reason for this change is the increased use of the Pap test.[/quote]

There were 295,734,134 People in the US in 2005

So 1.34 per cent of women will die from this disease.

I am not making light of the condition, and I agree that having a vaccine to prevent cause of death from preventable conditions. However, I feel that Merk's advertising department has done a phenomenal job of making a mountain out of a mole hill to help boost sales of the vaccine. I might add that this comes on the heels of the recall of their drug, Vioxx, which their company is curently being sued for for having caused possibly 27,000 heart attacks in patients. So when Merck or any other drug company comes out with an advertisement for a new drug, remember that their primary goal is to sell you a drug. Furthermore, until more studies are done about the safety of this new vaccine, I am not going to give it to my children. This is the bone of contention I have-not with the data on HPV and its resultant complications, but with the fact that in this country, drugs =money.

I am sorry, I did not want to come off sounding insensitive. I will repeat that I think a vaccine for this is a great thing. If cervical cancer is preventable, then that is a great step toward saving lives. I will refrain from any further discussion about the rest of my opinions for fear that tehy will be misconstrued.

Respectfully

I want to bring up something that got mentioned...

1. "Making the vaccine a requirement is a violation of our rights."

2. and also, in relation, a comment that "men are the carriers".

The first part: Aren't americans required to get vaccines for other diseases? I'm pretty sure they are, or you aren't allowed to even go to school. so why is it a violation of your rights to add one more vaccine to that list? Just because it has to do with sex? Most americans are going to have sex, just like most americans attend school. I think it's just plain smart.

Second: Aren't women carriers too? Couldn't a lesbian transmit it to her partner? The way you phrased it seems to lay all the blame on the males, and I don't think that's right. Gay men could also transmit it to their partners, though of course they don't have the debilitating conditions women get.

Gardasil is not a required vaccine, either.

according to all that i have read on it men are the carriers of it so if you have sex with a carrier and get it you can pass it on to a female partner if you are bi. I will be getting both my daughters vac against it shoot if they have a vac that prevents all cancers id get that for them as well i only wish they also made one for breast cancer as well since my fam has a high risk for it ...runs in family on my moms side.

Nightangel, if you're under the age of 26 you can still get the vaccine and it can be beneficial, because you probably don't have all 4 types of Hpv that the vaccine helps protect against.