Bucks
Cervical Cancer Vaccine
Dear Friends,
Good morning. Our only granddaughter, Gracie Meredith, is 13. Should she receive the anti cervical cancer vaccine? The argument is robust on both sides.
The vaccine protects against the human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes 10,000 new cases of cervical cancer yearly…and 3,700 deaths. Twenty states have legislation pending (but not Pennsylvania) to require the vaccinations. Texas Governor Rick Perry, a conservative Republican, has taken an opt out approach, in which the vaccination is required but parents can seek an exemption for reasons of conscience or religious beliefs.
The counter arguments are: (1) that the vaccine may not be safe because it’s new, and (2) that it sends an indirect message to young girls that being sexually active is OK.
“It seems farfetched to believe that protection from cervical cancer will change any girl’s behavior,” The Morning Call’s editorial (Feb. 26) opined. “Others complain that a mandate will pre-empt parental rights to make health decisions, but all vaccine mandates do that, to protect the children and those they might infect.”
“Several years ago, we were giving teens a vaccine against hepatitis B, which, in teenagers, is primarily transmitted by sex,” Dr. Joan Adler, Director of Adolescent Medicine at Temple University, wrote for the Inquirer (Mar. 7). “I don’t recall anyone objecting to protecting teens against this infection.
“High-risk strains [of HPV] cause infection of the vagina and cervix and can cause cancer of the vulva, vagina, or cervix,” she added. “Studies show that the vaccine prevents 70 percent of the high-risk strains that cause cervical cancer and 90 percent of the low-risk strains that cause genital warts.”
HPV statistics are startling. More than one third of American women are infected by HPV by age 24 and 25 percent of all American women under the age of 60 are infected by HPV at any one time. I talked with four local physicians about the advisability of giving the HPV vaccine to young women. All four recommend it.
Dr. Eleanor Travers is the Medical Director of the Bucks County Health Department. She believes in the HPV vaccine and told me that it’s free because it has state funding. The vaccine is available at the health department’s three offices (Quakertown, Doylestown, and Levittown).
Travers raised a secondary subject and referred me to a fascinating article in the New York Times (Mar. 24). There’s a growing worry that health insurance companies are forcing private practices to shoulder more of the cost of vaccinations for children. That’s a topic for another column.
Dr. Edward Rothstein is with Pennridge Pediatrics. His practice recommends the HPV vaccine and has been offering it for several months. “Several hundred patients have received it,” Rothstein began. He noted an additional advantage for the vaccine. “Abnormal pap smears will disappear because of the HPV vaccine…and the anxiety that goes with it,” he said.
Dr. Larry Glazerman is the Co-Director of Minimally Gynecological Surgery at St. Luke’s Hospital and has a private practice as well. Glazerman told me that he believes in the HPV vaccine and has been giving more than 50 shots monthly. He thinks that the argument about encouraging young women to be promiscuous is much ado about nothing. “The goal for the vaccine is to vaccinate before a child becomes sexually active,” Glazerman said.
He is one of the clinical investigators for Merck Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures the vaccine. Does that create a conflict of interest for him? “Absolutely not,” Glazerman replied. “”I tell my patients [about the Merck connection] because I’m passionate that the vaccine is a good thing.”
Dr. Eduardo Cevallos is a Quakertown pediatrician. “I do recommend the vaccine,” he said, “although we don’t stock it. It’s too expensive and insurance doesn’t cover the entire cost. But, parents are asking about it.”
So there you have it. I did not encounter one physician who opposes the HPV vaccine. Then again, I didn’t ask a cleric who might have had a contrary view.
Our daughter Catherine gave me a subscription to “The Week”, which I read religiously. In the March 16 issue, an editor asked a most germane question about the HPV vaccine. “A single sexual contact can lead to infection.” The Week reported. “Do people want to gamble that their daughters will stay chaste until their wedding night and marry a virgin? If they lose that bet, it could cost a young woman her health, her fertility, and maybe even her life.”
That’s a bet that I don’t want Gracie Meredith’s parents to take.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith