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Lack of awareness for HPV vaccine concerns health professionals

As of March, more than 70 million Americans were infected with human papillomavirus, the most common and second-most deadly sexually transmitted disease in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Gardasil, the vaccine designed to prevent HPV, is available in three doses that together cost up to $585. Walgreens pharmacist Mai Nguyen said that despite the importance of Gardasil, the cost gets in the way of young people when making a decision.

“I have worked here for years and never had a patient come in for the vaccine,” Nguyen said.

Mariana Arocha, a Industrial Engineering senior, said she only found out about Gardasil when it was required for a United States residency application.

“I will always say yes to the vaccine. This is something we want to attack before it becomes an issue.”

Lindsay BarberUH Health Center Associate Director

“I was 12 or 13 when I took the shot,” Arocha said. “The nurse said it was one of the requirements to send my residence papers, but never explained why it was important.”

The lack of awareness can also affect the demographics of students who have not taken Gardasil. Photography senior Emily walling wishes she had taken the vaccine when she was younger.

“I was honestly just not aware of it. But if I knew more about it, I would have gotten it, especially at a younger age,” said Walling. “I haven’t had the vaccine myself, but I’m not opposed to it. I think it’s better to take precautionary measures rather than take the chance of getting infected later on.”

The UH Health Center provides Gardasil immunizations for $169 per injection or at no out-of-pocket cost for students enrolled in the UH Student Health Insurance Plan. Associate Director Lindsay Barber said the health center gave 346 doses of Gardasil — 250 to female patients and 96 to males — between Sept. 1, 2013 and Aug. 31, 2014.

“I will always say yes to the vaccine,” Barber said. “This is something we want to attack before it becomes an issue.”

Barber said that anyone under 27 years of age should get the Gardasil immunization. The vaccine is most effective for people in that age range.

The effectiveness of Gardasil is not indisputable. A female student who has chosen to remain unidentified was diagnosed with HPV, though she took Gardasil.

“I got the vaccine in high school, before I was sexually active, because I thought it would protect me against HPV,” she said. “What I didn’t know is that it only protects against the four most dangerous strains of HPV — that is, the ones that are more likely to cause cancer.”

The student, who was diagnosed with one of the many strains that are not covered by the vaccine, said she was informed by her doctor that any signs of cancer would be detected early enough that it should not be life-threatening, but she is “not exactly comforted by this.”

“The best advice I have to ladies worried about HPV or really any health problem is to visit a doctor regularly, preferably the same doctor so that he or she will notice if something becomes abnormal,” she said.

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9 Comments

  • Lack of awareness works 2 ways. Positives & Negatives.
    You should be extremely worried about the HPV vaccine. There
    are many deaths and serious auto-immune adverse reactions reported around the
    world (USA, Canada, Japan, Spain, France, Denmark, Colombia, Brazil, etc).

    Our daughter suffered an immediate adverse reaction following the 3rd jab which soon became very serious. She was crippled with pain and sleeping 20-22 hours every day. It started with flu-like symptoms, with pains and feeling cold and very tired. Only afterwards did we realise it also happened with the earlier 2 jabs but we were told that it is safe and didn’t recognise the side-effects. She has now missed 3 years of school and life and it has been a huge burden on the family.

    In the UK the number of serious adverse reactions is 92 per 100,000 (approximately 100 times more than other common vaccines, including 4
    deaths. Over 18,000 adverse reactions reported). Whereas the deaths due to
    cervical cancer have come down from 8 per 100,000 to 2 per 100,000 over the
    last 40 years and at this rate should disappear within 10 years – with no help
    from the vaccine. The vaccine efficacy is only 97% and known to be effective
    for several years but cervical cancer typically takes 15 years to develop.

    Why are we killing and maiming our children at huge cost when there is no need to do so?

    See also:
    http://www.migueljara.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Dinamarca-da%C3%B1os-vacuna-papiloma.pdf
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD5TnDtGKYw

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    • Of course they wont raise awareness of the negative consequences that can occur from the HPV vaccine. Its better to force all girls to receive Merck’s product through bribes paid to Rick Perry. Fortunately that stopped thanks to some informed citizens.

  • If you dont want HPV(not just the strains associated with the vaccine), don’t have sex with someone who has it. Problem solved!

    • Unfortunately it’s not that easy. Estimates of 75-80% of Americans have been infected with HPV at some point in their life and it can stay latent in the body for an indeterminate amount of time. Not to mention the people that just don’t tell you or don’t even know. And even if you did find out, would you really break up with someone you love because they have HPV? It’s not exactly first date conversation.

      • If 75-80% of Americans had HIV, I still wouldn’t have sex with someone who has it. Some people may draw the line at HIV, Syphillis, or Herpex Simplex or feel free to have no limits. I draw the line at ALL STD’s,”even” HPV which stays with you for life. Clearly HPV wouldn’t be so widespread if people used more discretion in who they have sex with. My husband and I were both virgins and my pap smears are always perfect. I prefer to have a great confidence in only having sex with my husband(risking that he could potentially cheat on me with someone who has HPV) than engage in sexual acts with people of unknown sexual backgrounds who probably don’t mind being infected with HPV.

      • The high incidence of HPV in the United States is a wonderful product of casual indiscriminate sex. I guess it would be easier for me to find an HPV-free woman in Saudi Arabia:

        Although cervical cancer is the third most common cancer in women
        worldwide, its reported incidence is low in Saudi Arabia, ranking number
        12 between all cancers in females and accounts only for 2.4% of all new
        cases, despite the lack of national screening programs.

        http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3978341/

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