HEALTH

Why Are HPV Vaccine Rates So Low?

It's been hailed as one of the most effective ways to prevent cervical cancer, but millions of young women have yet to get immunized.

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  • Posted By: oneless-to-miserable @ 12/10/2008 11:44:50 PM

    maybe the reason people are hesitant is because of cases like mine and thousands of others. I was perfectly normal i could play sports, run, go on roller coasters, go to concerts, now i cant. Ever since I got that vaccine I am constantly sick, I no longer live a normal life and i am only seventeen. A few days after the vaccination i couldnt make a whole school day, i am tired, i cant always feel my limbs, and i am so weak sometimes i cant hold my pencil to take notes in class. I have been hospitalized twice in six months after the vaccine with extremely low blood pressure and passing out and waking up in the ER. I dont recomend the vaccine until more research has been done, trust me it is not worth it. I would just like to be a normal teenager again, when my biggest concern is what to wear not will i be able to walk today.

    • Posted By: kahaack @ 06/02/2009 4:35:21 PM

      my daughter has the same symptons are you any better.

  • Posted By: kahaack @ 06/02/2009 4:33:47 PM

    Maybe people are getting smart and researching the gardahell side effects. They want their daughters to be one less injured by an unnecessary vaccine that is killing and maiming our girls. My daughter is one less healthy thanks to the Merck Gardasil madness. One less healthy teen. Here are the non-serious side effects she has had or is having. Peripheral Neuropathy in both feet. Burning and loss of feeling in her feet. This is usually diagnosed in people who have had excessively high blood sugar levels in their 60's and 70's. Usually insulin dependant diabletes. I did my research. Fainting all the time with loss of use of legs. Does this sound non-serious? It is according to the CDC. Gastritis, Unrelenting Migraine headaches for weeks at a time. No period for a year and a half. Brain fog she went from a 3.8 GPA to under a 1 in one year. Who could study or think with unrelenting migraines. She has had tremors, sinus infections, bloody stools, She has lost some peripheral vision in one of her eyes. The fainting is the worse.. When she faints she loses the ability to walk. This has happened more then 20 times.. Think about this and do your research before allowing anyone to poison your child with this crap. WMD Gardasil a Weapon of Mass destruction. Look it up. I think Gardasil qualifies. Merck needs to be held accountable for every death and sick kid from this mass innoculation and poisoning of our youth.

  • Posted By: teacher3rs @ 03/09/2009 11:24:55 AM

    The seizures, auto immune disease, paralysis, clots, etc happening to our girls is an outrage. To some of our girls this drug is sinister.

    My daughter has had a laundry list of symptoms following Gardasil that have persisted for over a year.

    Have we forgotten the vaccine for Lyme disease? It didn???t stay on the market long. You see, genetically we are each a bit individual. With the Lyme???s disease vaccine, it seems the people with the genetic marker HLA-DR4 and certain alleles, had auto immune reactions, some severe and crippling. In my recall, the manufacturer knew this information and didn???t pass it on to the public.

    Dr Diane Harper, Dartmouth Medical School worked on the vaccine and has suggested that families with a history of auto immune disease, motor neuron and clotting disorders may want to wait or avoid having this vaccine. Merck did not pass this suggestion on to the public on the package insert sheet.

    Gardasil, Cervarix, and Silgard seem to be drugs directed against HPV in different countries around the world. I???ve read articles by mothers in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and more complaining of debilitating side effects.

    I think this issue is like the Bernie Madoff case, the seals on the NASA Challenger, the Ford Pinto fiasco???Someone knows something. They know why this is happening. Someone needs to do the ???right??? thing ??? speak out - and stop this disaster from happening to more of our young ladies.

  • Posted By: MMB15213 @ 01/14/2009 2:12:28 AM

    HPV awareness is a mess. There are two different misinformation problems: 1) many women still don't even know what it is and 2) too many women who DO know what it is, think that if they get it/have it, they are inevitably going to get cervical cancer. It bothers me that American women are so negligent about educating themselves about these things. The information is out there, USE IT!

  • Posted By: liveinreality @ 01/09/2009 3:34:23 PM

    Have you ever seen a genital wart? Large whitish gray, looks like the top of a cauliflower, and can grow up to 4 inches! More than 80% of sexually active people carry HPV already. Why wouldn't you want to defend yourself or your children against this disease that could lead to infertility? Get the real facts. Once your kid gets it and has to have surgery on their cervix at age 15 like many of my friends did, maybe you'll see the light.

  • Posted By: qtshad @ 09/23/2008 12:14:36 PM

    Because the article was pro-vaccine, here are some arguments against it:
    (1) unproven long-term safety record,
    (2) expensive,
    (3) incidence of cancer from HPV is low, even if the vaccine is effective,
    (4) incentive of Merck to whitewash any problems,
    (5) incentive of "sex without consequences" crowd to jump at anything that validates their world view,
    (6) bundling it for 6-year-olds to increase adoption smacks of manipulation and lack of transparency.

  • Posted By: Listen Up @ 02/25/2008 11:52:17 PM

    Contrary to everyone below, I think that getting this is a GREAT idea! If you can avoid cancer, why would it be bad? Even if cervical cancer is easily treated, it's still cancer. I know where I live the government offers the shot for only $5 and I live in the most conservative state in the country (Utah). And yes, everyone should get yearly pap smears, but if that many American's are uninsured you know it's not happening. The whole arguement that it promotes young girls to become sexually active is ludicrous.

    • Posted By: qtshad @ 09/23/2008 12:01:09 PM

      There are a lot of bad things you can avoid easily--if you dont mind the trade-offs. You're much more likely to die in an auto accident than to get cancer from HPV. Oh--you're still driving? For shame.

  • Posted By: wenzzdae @ 02/26/2008 1:57:57 PM

    IF YOU DONT KNOW THE PERSON WELL ENOUGH TO KNOW YOURE NOT GOING TO CATCH ANYTHING FROM THEM YOU DESERVE TO DIE OF CANCER COZ YOURE A FILTHY WHORE

    • Posted By: arby665 @ 08/21/2008 10:51:03 PM

      Maybe you should go and read a book. Get some kind of education behind you before you talk about something that you know nothing about,

    • Posted By: Terrils @ 02/26/2008 2:27:27 PM

      Yes, of course. Because no one you know really well would EVER, for instance, lie to you. Or not actually know themselves, yet, whether they have a disease. Right?

  • Posted By: Margaux @ 08/21/2008 6:04:24 PM

    I've heard that there have been some deaths associated with the HPV vaccine. Can you please tell me more about that?

  • Posted By: Starlily05 @ 02/28/2008 3:17:34 AM

    How about the 5 year rule when testing new drugs!! Anyone who takes a "new' vaccine when its just on the market is asking to be hit with unknown side effects!! Why anyone would push their kids to get this new vaccine when its barely been out a year is beyond me...

    • Posted By: Your Average Person @ 04/17/2008 10:02:22 PM

      Amen sister!
      These people are letting big drug companies scare them into PAYING to be a guinea pig.
      Anyone who has studied history knows new drugs/vaccines can have some surprising side effects years down the road. I hope your gamble pays off, and your children don't pay a high price like past generations.

  • Posted By: Ildor @ 02/27/2008 12:38:41 AM

    Just basic common sense destroyed this entire article if you just read the first paragraph. You had to shut your brain down and not read your own article, Karen. To quote a mother saying that a sexually transmitted disease is not about sex, it's just plain healthy? I guess I will just stop taking vitamins and get my shot. How terriffic. Sounds like she plans on her daughters following her and her sister. Very little responsibility for your own actions and lots of time on your back with your legs in the air. This is really disappointing, terrible article full of erroneous information.

    • Posted By: Firmbelieverinvaccinations @ 04/11/2008 4:52:20 PM

      I myself have HPV and have only been with ONE person my ex-husband, and now I have the virus so are you saying any woman who has sex is just laying with their feet in the air? because it sounds to me like you just called the mother in the story who is preventing her daughter(s) from getting a terrible virus that can KILL her a whore along with her sister? Let me just ask you one question... are you one of the those religious freaks who think that any vaccine is crazy even if it prevents a possible illness, and let me tell you another thing READ the article it states sex is not THE only way to get HVP, Your a hipocrite and yes I would get my daughter vaccinated as well....

  • Posted By: laracheerful @ 03/21/2008 12:05:25 PM

    My daughter had a severe reation to the HPV vaccine and it almost cost her life. The reason I chose to vaccinate is because it was FDA and CDC approved. The government did not do their homework on this one, and I am ashamed to say I believed them when they said it was safe for my child. My child now has chronic pancreatitis and will live with this for the rest of her life. She has had two major surgeries and her can no longer eat a regular diet. My sister died of cervical cancer and I felt it was important at the time. I still feel I am lucky and that my child is not one of the 13 who have lost their lives.

  • Posted By: popslashgirl @ 02/26/2008 10:52:32 AM

    I really want this vaccine, and haven't been able to get it (I'm two years over the cutoff). It bugs me that there are girls and parents who are missing out on this valuable tool to keep themselves healthy and safe.Do these people realize just how many people have HPV? Why wait, even for a moment? Maybe they don't want to think of their little thirteen-year-old angel having sex, but do these parents think their kids will NEVER have sex, never ever ever? Vaccines are all about planning for the future, not obsessing about the present.

    • Posted By: almost40 @ 03/20/2008 11:25:18 AM

      I'm pretty sure if you request an hpv pap and the results are negative that you can stll receive the vaccine at any age. Of course your insurance may not pay for it. But ask your doctor.

    • Posted By: Cssndra @ 02/28/2008 3:55:39 PM

      Popslashgirl -

      I'm 34. I pestered my insurance into it. They paid....try again!

  • Posted By: almost40 @ 03/20/2008 11:16:12 AM

    I was diagnosed with HPV in 1988 when I was 19 yrs old. In the past 20 yrs I have had surgery for pre-cervical cancer & several surgeries for Vulva cancer(also caused by HPV but rarely discussed by the media). These treatments were not fun, they were painful, they disrupted my life, disrupted my love life, and complicated my fertility. This disease caused me alot of heartache and embarrassment. Three shots, even if they are painful, are nothing in comparison. Please people get immunized!!!!!! Get your daughters immunized! I would never wish what I have been through on anyone!

  • Posted By: FindtheSilverLining! @ 03/10/2008 12:04:10 AM

    I am a teenager and I have gotten the vaccine it is painful but look at it this way, a shot will hurt way less than cancer treatments. If we have the power to stop something potentially deadly from affecting us I don't know why people are even hesitating. If you truly want what's best for the women in your family then encourage them to get vaccinated. People did spend time and money to develop something to help prevent cancer because they were bored they wanted to help people and if people refuse to accept that help then they shouldn't have wasted their time I'm sure they had many other things to do with their time so if you get cancer becuase you refused to get the vaccination you deserve it because its your own fault that you couldn't take a little time out of your precious life to prevent something terrible so if you don't get gardisil good luck to you and I hope you live through it

  • Posted By: PowerToThePositive @ 03/08/2008 12:45:56 AM

    I have HPV and did receive treatment for an abornormal pap about 12 years ago. I was told that we can carry it around for years without knowing it. Finding out who gave it to you is unrealistic, unless you've had less than 2 partners in your life. Call me what you may, but I don't have a clue where mine came from. The procedure to remove the abnormal tissue in the cervix was quite painful and more importantly frightening. Thinking you could have cervical cancer is not a laughing matter. It is extremely deadly.
    I am now the mother of a 19 year old daughter. A month before her birthday she went in for a pap-smear and her first HPV vaccination. This child hates pain, but only grimaced during the shot. We will be back this month for shot number two. I'm sorry for those who have had bad reactions to this drug. In the profession of cures, there is always this chance. For all the lives it will save. I say thank you to the scientists and those who participated in the years of studies.
    Power to the Positive

  • Posted By: kelleyanne @ 03/07/2008 11:14:22 AM

    This article is missing the obvious reason why we aren't rushing to get immunized-educated Americans have wised up to the fact that immunizations can be just as dangerous as what they're trying to immunize against. I for one refuse to be the pharmaceutical company's guinea pig.

  • Posted By: Ma_Girl @ 03/06/2008 6:41:27 PM

    After reading all the comments I'm surpirsed no one has spoken about the fact that some doctors won't give the vaccine to you. I had just turned 26 when I asked for the vaccine and the issue was always pushed on the backburner. I spoke to 3 different doctors only to have the last doctor tell me to schedule an appointment and then tell me I was too old to get it. The soonest appointment she had available wasn't until 2 weeks after my birthday. I'm not the only one that has had this problem either. Marie Claire pulished an article in their February 2008 issue about another woman that had the same problems trying to get the vaccine, though she was more succesfull than me

  • Posted By: JenPinTejas @ 03/03/2008 3:24:12 PM

    Didn't "I am Legend" start with a cancer vaccine? ;)

  • Posted By: AliveinNZ @ 03/01/2008 8:34:36 PM

    Tell that to that Mothers whose daughters are now DEAD, because the recieved this Vaccine. Tell that to the FDA who KNEW AND DOCUMENTED that HPV IS NOT the cause of cervical cance, Thell that to Merck who are currently litigating MASSIVE lawsuits because their last amazing drug VIOXX, which they said was safe, killed 160000 Americans. Tell that to JAMA who documented on research and trials, with end results that Gardasil was USELESS, and offer NO therepeutic benefit whatsoever. Tell that to Merck whos own documented research shows that the huge percentage of women who do have a HPV virus, the chances of increasing lesions go up 44%, increasing your chances of cancer. Tell that to Merck whos trials showed the vaccine ingredient Polysorbate 80 causes sterility in the animals it wass tested on, and why Merck had NO proof the it was safe from causing mass sterility in girls in the future when asked in the first bill before the commitee. Or how about actual documented FDA papers stating that Merck does not even know if Gardacil is safe.
    Ask yourself this seriously, there are massive amounts of diseased girls after recieving Gardacil, and also dead ones. Want to gamble with your family tree coming to an abrupt end, do the math. Watch this and wake up Mothers, because Merck is lobbying to make Gardacil madatory for boys. Shots = $950 X 60,000,000 kids = lots of cash for Merck.
    http://www.naturalnews.com/Report_HPV_Vaccine_7.html
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK97CHQZhq0

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