Your Daughter and the HPV Vaccines

The FDA's decision to approve a human vaccine designed to prevent infection of the human papilloma virus, which is the cause of nearly all cervical cancers, should have been cause for celebration in the field of pediatric medicine. 10,000 American women will be diagnosed with this devastating disease this year and another 3,700 will die from it. So why aren't more people celebrating now that we have a safe, effective way to prevent most cervical cancers?

"Girls that age are just too young," the vaccine's most vocal opponents cry. Others object to vaccinating their children against what they consider a sexually transmitted disease. Still others argue that vaccinating young girls will encourage them to experiment with risky sexual behaviors and promiscuity. But are these arguments valid? Or are they just an attempt to hide our discomfort at being faced with our children's sexual natures? Before you decide not to vaccinate your daughter against HPV consider the facts:

1. Human papilloma virus, or HPV, has been called the world's most common sexually transmitted disease. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that by age 50, at least 80% of American women will have contracted the virus though the vast majority will never realize they have it until symtoms of cervical cancer or genital warts are present.

2. There is no test for HPV in men and most sexually active men who contract (and then spread) HPV will never be diagnosed unless their partner's HPV is found first.

3. According to a 2006 study conducted for the New York Academy of Medicine, 40% of girls are sexually active by age 14.

4. To be effective, the HPV vaccine must be given to girls before they become infected.

5. The vaccine has been tested on thousands of women and has been proven safe and effective.

No parent relishes the idea of a child becoming sexually active. But this vaccine has the potential to save millions of women from a painful and often deadly disease. After all, having brakes on your automobile doesn't encourage you to drive recklessly, does it? Why would vaccinating your child against a potentially deadly virus encourage her to become sexually promiscuous?

Perhaps you're a parent who objects to this vaccine on "natural" grounds. That's fine--natural medicine is about choice, after all. But before you decide not to vaccinate your child against one of the most common diseases in existence today, please take a moment to weigh all the facts. Then, make the decision that's best for your child.