By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Sept. 1 (HealthDay News) -- The rate of serious allergic reactions to the cervical cancer vaccine is considerably higher than that for other vaccines given to children, but the total number of these reactions remains miniscule, Australian researchers report.

Overall, the Gardasil shot is remarkably safe, declared a team of doctors in an editorial accompanying the study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. They did acknowledge the need to keep tabs on possible side effects, however.

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Vaccinating all 12-year-old girls against the virus that causes cervical cancer, along with "catch-up" immunizations of women under the age of 21 and revised screening guidelines, would be cost-effective ways to combat the disease, a new study by Harvard researchers suggests.

It's a rite of passage, the stuff of Norman Rockwell paintings. From birth through old age, we stoically endure the jabs of needles meant to ward off disease of one kind or another. Yet vaccines occupy a tenuous position in many Americans' psyches.

Two years after its introduction, the so-called "cervical cancer" vaccine, Gardasil, has found itself squarely in the crosshairs. Previously healthy girls, playing soccer and going to prom, are suddenly falling ill, struck by incomprehensibly tragic diseases. Many are paralyzed, a number of them have died.

CDC Reviewing Merck & Co.'s Gardasil Vaccine Has Had Nearly 8,000 Reports of Adverse Reactions to Thousands of Reactions to Cervical Cancer Vaccine Reported

Nearly 8,000 reports of adverse reactions to Merck & Co.'s Gardasil vaccine have been filed with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since June 2006, news reports said Tuesday.

SATURDAY, June 21 (HealthDay News) -- Summer is here, and many of you will be kicking off your shoes at home, at the beach or in the park. But is that a good thing?

To sort the myths from the facts about your feet, Dr. Tracey Vlahovic, associate professor of podiatric medicine and orthopedics at Temple University's School of Podiatric Medicine, offers this information about your tootsies with a caveat -- always check with your doctor before starting any treatment:

Myth: Flats, flip-flops and going barefoot are good for your feet.

TUESDAY, March 25 (HealthDay News) -- A new study confirms previous findings that human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA-based tests are more accurate than Pap smears in detecting precancerous lesions.

It was already known that the HPV test uncovered more infections and precancerous lesions than Pap smears (cytology), but it wasn't clear whether HPV tests would lead to the treatment of patients whose immune systems would fight off infections -- meaning that these women didn't require treatment, anyway.

TUESDAY, March 25 (HealthDay News) -- A new study confirms previous findings that human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA-based tests are more accurate than Pap smears in detecting precancerous lesions.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will consider whether to expand use of a vaccine intended to prevent cervical cancer to women aged 27 to 45, the vaccine maker said Wednesday.

Gardasil, made by Merck & Co., currently is approved for use in girls and women aged 9 through 26 to block four types of human papilloma virus, which can cause cervical cancer and genital warts.

A decision is expected by mid-year.

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By Amanda Gardner
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, March 14 (HealthDay News) -- When 69-year-old Carl Irwin arrived at Georgetown University's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center for treatment of lymphoma, he was handed a blank notebook and asked to write about how his cancer had changed him and how he felt about those changes.