The Facts on Gardasil: A Vaccine for Human Papilloma Virus
Since the vaccine was approved in 2006 for girls and young women between the ages of nine to 26, nearly 16 million doses have been distributed in the U.S. About 25% of the nation’s teenage girls were vaccinated in 2007.
“For a new vaccine, 25% is really very good,” stated Lance Rodewald of the National Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in a Los Angeles Time article. “We need to see that rate every year if we are going to meet our goal of having 90% of teenagers (protected against cervical cancer),” he added.
Gardasil is a preventative vaccine; it has to be given before a girl or woman is exposed to the strains of HPV that are known to cause cervical cancer. That’s why the FDA and CDC authorize its use to girls before they become sexually active. As more young girls are vaccinated and become immune to the virus, medical researchers believe that the number of women diagnosed with cervical cancer will eventually drop.
Isolated reports of girls becoming serious ill or dying after receiving the shots raised concerns and fueled fears that the manufacturer should re-evaluate the risks of taking this vaccine. However, it’s difficult to know if the vaccine was truly the cause of the reported health issues.
