HPV Update
From the CDC, Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a common virus that is spread through sexual contact. HPV has virtually no symptoms, so people do not know they have it. There are approximately 40 types of genital HPV. Some types can cause cervical cancer in women and can also cause other kinds of cancer in both men and women. Other types can cause genital warts in both males and females. The HPV vaccine works by preventing the most common types of HPV that cause cervical cancer and genital warts. It is given as a 3-dose vaccine.
The HPV vaccine is routinely recommended for girls 11 and 12 years of age and is given in a series of three injections over a six-month period. The second and third doses should be given two and six months (respectively) after the first dose. The vaccine is also recommended for girls and women 13 through 26 years of age who did not receive it when they were younger. HPV vaccine may be given at the same time as other vaccines. Unfortunately, there haven’t been long-term studies on gay men who receive an HPV vaccination.
Two HPV vaccines have been under development in the United States, Many are asking why the seemingly reckless rush? At least one answer to that question comes from the fact that Merck currently is the sole provider of an HPV vaccine with its Gardasil product. A competing HPV vaccine, Glaxo Smith Kline’s Cervarix, is set to hit the market in January 2008. As more children are vaccinated with Gardasil, fewer will be able to later receive the necessary repeat boosters of a competing, incompatible vaccine. Merck is in a race to capture as much of the market as it can, consuming many millions of taxpayer dollars. The new vaccines target HPV types 16 and 18, which cause about 70% of the cases of cervical cancer. However:
Because these vaccines prevent persistent genital HPV infections, they also may have the potential to reduce the transmission of these particular strains from person to person.
The vaccines appear to be very safe. Nevertheless, unexpected rare adverse events may not be detected until after many more people have been immunized.
The downside is that in just little over a year, the HPV vaccine has been associated with at least five deaths, not to mention thousands of reports of adverse effects, hundreds deemed serious, and many that required hospitalization.
Judicial Watch, a U.S. government watchdog, became concerned while noting large donations to key politicians originating from Merck. A freedom of information request from the group in May of this year discovered that during the period from June 8, 2006 - when the vaccines received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - to May 2007 there were 1,637 reports of adverse reactions to the HPV vaccine reported to the FDA.
Three deaths were related to the vaccine, including one of a 12-year-old. One physician’s assistant reported that a female patient "died of a blood clot three hours after getting the Gardasil vaccine." Two other reports, on girls 12 and 19, reported deaths relating to heart problems and/or blood clotting. As of May 11, 2007, the 1,637 adverse vaccination reactions reported to the FDA via the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) included 371 serious reactions. Of the 42 women who received the vaccine while pregnant, 18 experienced side effects ranging from spontaneous abortion to fetal abnormities.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/hpv/
http://www.immunizationinfo.org/HPVVaccines_detail.cfv?id=125
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/sep/07092004.html
