Whether you’re young or old, you’re probably heard by now the debate over making the new HPV vaccine mandatory for all middle school girls.

Whether you’re a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle or just a concerned adult, many people have reservations about making this vaccine mandatory and real concerns whenever the word MANDATORY is used.

Now let me help dispel some of the confusion.  Here a few facts about HPV or Human Papilloma Virus:

1. HPV is a relatively common viral infection that has been linked to the development of cervical cancer.
2. There are several types of HPV and the vaccine protects against types 6 and 11, which cause the majority of cases of genital warts and types 16 and 18, which cause the majority of cases of cervical cancer.
3. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, which means that the more sexual partners a woman has the higher the probability that she’ll get HPV.
4. PAP smears can detect microscopic changes in the cells of the cervix which can detect cervical cancer in its early stages.

Those of the facts about HPV and about the vaccine.  And studies have shown that the HPV vaccine PREVENTS CERVICAL CANCER.

Now here’s where the debate starts…..the vaccine was approved for use in females ages 9 to 26….so when should vaccination start and who should get vaccinated?

The American Cancer Society’s guidelines recommend that vaccinations should begin between age 11 to 12 but there are no formal mandates that say that all females between the ages of 11 and 12 must get vaccinated….at least not yet.  Many proposed bills are being discussed at the state level but none have been passed. 

So for now, the debate continues.  If you would like to know more information about the HPV vaccine or want to know if your relative should be vaccinated with the HPV vaccine, I urge you to discuss this with your doctor.

If you would like to know more about this and other topics, post your topic on the blog and let me know what topics you’d like discussed here on The Health and Wellness Queen’s Blog.  Don’t wait!  Ask your questions NOW!

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 22nd, 2007 at 4:34 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.