[NVIC] Spreading Misinformation About HPV

[Guest guest]

E-NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER

Vienna, Virginia http://www.nvic.org

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UNITED WAY/COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN

#8122

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" Protecting the health and informed consent rights of children since 1982. "

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BL Fisher Note:

The drumbeat to mandate an HPV vaccine for all adolescents is beginning. And

pro-forced vacccination proponents beating the drum are using a familiar

tactic: create factual myths that create fear while mischaracterizing the

concerns of those who oppose forced use of vaccines. Vaccines for sexually

transmitted diseases, such as hepatitis B and HPV, should not be mandated.

http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content & repository=0001_article & id=1934

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STANFORD DAILY - February 10, 2006

HPV editorial needs clarification

By Selena -Duffin & Margot Isman

Guest Columnist , Guest Columnist

Friday, February 10, 2006

Wednesday's editorial on Human papilloma virus ( " Spread love, not HPV, " Feb.

8) was misguided and inaccurate. While we applaud the Stanford Daily's

willingness to educate our community about this little known virus, we were

very concerned about the potential ramifications of publishing misleading

information on an issue as volatile and sensitive as a Sexually Transmitted

Infection (STI). We believe that the Daily intended only to raise awareness,

and we hope they will continue to consider other similarly important issues

in the future. However, it is also important that the community have access

to accurate and well-researched information. This article attempts to set

the record straight. HPV, by itself, does not kill anyone. HPV, by itself,

does not kill anyone. According to the Daily, 5,000 people die of HPV each

year. However, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH), this is

the number of women who die from cervical cancer in the United States. Also,

there are over 100 strains of HPV, 30 of which are transmitted sexually, and

only two of which are pre-cancerous. It is only those two strains that are

responsible for most cases of cervical cancer.

It is estimated that 20 million people are infected with HPV in the United

States today (and an astounding 80% of women are infected by the time they

are 50), but the rate of cervical cancer is actually very low. This is

because in the United States, many women have regular pap smears, which can

detect HPV and allow for monitoring and early detection and treatment of

cervical cancer if it develops. Unfortunately, pap smears are much less

common in other parts of the world, and cervical cancer is the third most

common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death for women

worldwide. Since the best predictor of cervical cancer is HPV, the

development of an HPV vaccine is very exciting and its global implementation

will save lives an estimated 200,000 lives each year.

The HPV vaccine, developed by Merck Incorporated, has received priority

consideration for approval by the FDA. Adding the HPV vaccine to the list of

those required for attendance at public schools would ensure that a high

percentage of the population receives it, maximizing its effectiveness. The

next step in ensuring this outcome is for the Advisory Committee on

Immunization Practices-a subset of the Centers for Disease Control-to adopt

the vaccine to the list of vaccines that are mandatory for entrance into

high school.

The most distressing aspect of the Daily's article on HPV was the statement

that its victims also suffer from " ulcerated masses that cause bleeding and

tear apart the walls of internal organs. " We're honestly not sure where this

idea comes from, but it was irresponsible to suggest this without citing a

reputable source. Cervical cancer does cause tumors, but to the best of our

knowledge they rarely rupture. It is also frightening for the young women

who have been diagnosed with HPV to read this misinformation. The vast

majority of people who are diagnosed with HPV will never develop any

symptoms of the virus, and the American Social Health Association reports

that 3 out of 4 people from the ages of 15 to 44 have the virus. The

Editorial Board owes them an apology for potentially frightening and

stigmatizing these members of our community.

Although the Daily's intentions were honorable in attempting to inform our

community about a lesser known and very prevalent STI, the Board failed to

accurately represent the virus itself, its effects, and its political

status. HPV certainly requires more attention by the medical, activist, and

especially media communities. We hope that HPV continues to be talked about

in a constructive, informative context, but we also hope that in the future

the Daily takes more care to accurately represent the facts.

Selena -Duffin and Margot Isman are the co-directors of the Roosevelt

Institution Center on Women and Gender, Stanford Chapter. They can be

reached at selenasd@... and misman@....

Editor's note: Our editorial was intended to address possible opposition to

the HPV vaccine being put on the list of approved vaccines, and not intended

as a judgment of the FDA review process. The editorial also states that HPV

is a cause of cervical cancer, which in turn causes death, although we could

have been clearer on that point.

http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content & id=19287 & repository=0001_articl

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STANFORD DAILY - February 8, 2006 Print Article Close Window

Spread love, not HPV

By Editorial Board

Wednesday, February 8, 2006

It's Friday night, and you come home from a frat party where you hooked up

with a guy. Next thing you know, you have HPV and a possibility of

developing cervical cancer. While not as infamous as HIV or gonorrhea, Human

papilloma virus is a sexually transmitted disease that kills 5,000 women

each year, is more easily transmissible than HIV, and was found in 32% of

female college students in a recent study conducted at Washington State

University. What's even worse is that it's completely preventable. While it

infects both men and women, HPV is the only proven cause of cervical cancer,

which only kills women. It cannot be prevented by condom use, and is often

asymptomatic and dormant, thus facilitating rapid transmission and slow

detection. Victims of HPV suffer from painful tumors that grow as ulcerated

masses that cause bleeding and tear apart the walls of internal organs, thus

making the inaccessibility of preventative measures even more unforgivable.

Thanks to self-described " family values " proponents on Capitol Hill and

within the current administration, a recently approved vaccine for HPV has

been backlogged for distribution and blocked from being added to the list of

approved vaccines routinely given to young girls before they reach puberty.

According to organizations such as the Christian lobby group Family Research

Council, abstinence is the " best " way to prevent HPV, and making a vaccine

more readily available to all girls would only encourage promiscuous

behavior. Even with the hypothetical consideration that premarital sex is

immoral, sending the message that premarital sex is punishable by death is

nothing short of ludicrous. On top of this, our policymakers have failed to

consider the effects of the disease on women who are raped or those who have

not been promiscuous, yet still contract the virus from partners.

At first glance, the arguments of the evangelical right against the HPV

vaccine are reminiscent of similar arguments made against the distribution

of the morning-after pill. But the similarities end when one considers the

fact that withholding the HPV vaccine is equivalent to condoning the

senseless, needless deaths of several thousand women in this country. There

is not - and never will be - anything moral about refusing medical treatment

to those who are at risk of dying, in an effort to shape sexual behavior.

Denying a form of disease prevention for a disease that disproportionately

affects women is not only an issue of ethics, but of gender equality as

well.

In the end, the HPV vaccine story is quite simple: if you have any women in

your life who are important to you, this affects you. There is no reason why

the current government should be able to pass judgment on women who may not

have a choice in whether or not they get the virus. There is no legitimate

ethical barrier to offering a form of prevention that has already been

developed and tested. And there is no reason why any woman should have to

choose between virginity and death.

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