Ladies: Many of you remember the painful experience that is the Gardasil Vaccine. However, getting these three shots is a really good decision in order to prevent long-term health problems.
According to the Gardasil website, the vaccine prevents four types of human papillomavirus (HPV). The site also says that the shot helps protect girls and young women between the ages of nine and 26 against two types of HPV that cause about 75 percent of cervical cancer cases, and two more types that cause 90 percent of genital warts cases.
Gardasil also helps protect these girls against 70 percent of vaginal cancer cases, and up to 50 percent of vulvar cancer cases.
Doctors usually recommend this shot to girls in this age bracket because they're either sexually active or will become sexually active sometime in the near future. Considering that not every young girl's aspirations include getting cervical cancer, it shouldn't be a man's personal goal to contract HPV either. Believe it or not, HPV is a sexually transmitted virus that that both men and women can get. In fact, HPV in men is one of the leading causes of genital warts.
Guys: Were you aware that HPV isn't "just for girls?" You may be wondering how you can protect yourself from contracting HPV and protect yourself against the risk of genital warts. Well, you're in luck.
There's a version of the Gardasil shot designed for men. The Gardasil website advertises the shot as being very effective. In fact, the website states that in boys and young men between the same ages of nine to 26, the shot helps protect against 90 percent of genital wart cases. By distributing the shot to males, it can also help prevent HPV in females, because males could pass it on to them. The question is, just how many males in this age group would be willing to go through three painful shots of Gardasil to help prevent HPV?
There are many other concerns regarding the vaccine, including the morality aspect and, obviously, some major side effects.
From a moral perspective, giving this vaccine to a young boy or girl is giving them an "okay" to be sexually active. A website that issues various articles about the views of the Catholic Church called Christiantoday.com posted an article in November 2005
about the Gardasil vaccine.
Author Maria Mackay states that the Catholic Church warned that the new drug may make children believe that sex is now safer,
therefore encouraging them to have sex. A Catholic Church spokesperson says, "There are other sexually transmitted diseases besides HPV that can be spread by casual sex, and by eliminating one element of risk it might act as a green light for promiscuous behavior."
As for health concerns, there are several issues that have been linked to the Gardasil vaccine. ABC News gives some of the
linked affects. For instance, the vaccine has been linked to 32 unconfirmed deaths and shows higher incidences of fainting and
blood clots than other vaccines.
As of June 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that more than 25 million doses of Gardasil had been distributed in the U.S., and that there was an average of 53.9 reports of consequences due to the vaccine per 100,000 doses. Of these, 40 percent occurred on the day of vaccination, and 6.2 percent were serious.
However, these reports are limited because there may have been other factors contributing to these complications. For instance, 90 percent of those with blood clots had typical risk factors for clots outside of having received the vaccine, such as using oral contraceptives or smoking.
As a nursing student, I believe that it's really important for young girls and boys to get this vaccine, because prevention is always
better than treatment. Getting any type of cancer or harmful virus is an emotional experience for anyone, and also quite expensive. The complications that go along with this vaccine are rare and many of them aren't proven to have anything to do with the vaccine. As for whether or not guys should get the vaccine, it's just as important for them as it is for women. Nobody likes getting shots, but the goal of the shot is not to cause pain for young men and women; it's to help prevent the spread of HPV.
Both men and women can make a difference and it'll be worth it when there's one less person affected by HPV.
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