The Controversy of a Vaccine

I'm out here on our balcony again -- it's the only place in the hotel room that has wireless internet signal. How I wish I could use THAT as an excuse at work: "I have to go outside; I can't get internet signal here in the lab." It's a pitiful signal -- it comes and goes and makes computer work an adventure, at best.

But who cares? It's the beach.

I was fixing breakfast this morning...stop laughing...No, I do not cook on vacation -- it was cereal and bagels. Anyway, I was fixing breakfast this morning and listening to the news. A story came on about the new vaccine against human papilloma virus. The story's gotten me "all worked up." A few facts first -- these are from the NIH:

• Human papilloma virus (HPV) causes almost all cases of cervical cancer.
• Two companies are working on vaccines against two strains of the virus -- these two strains together cause 70% of all cases of cervical cancer.
• "It is estimated that in 2006 more than 9,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with cervical cancer and about 3,700 will die of the disease. Worldwide, about 270,000 women die of cervical cancer each year."
• HPV is a sexually transmitted virus
• To be most effective, the vaccine needs to be administered early in the life of a young girl, prior to any sexual activity, since the virus is mostly transmitted to young women. The story on the news today said the recommended age will probably be 9 years old.

So I'm pouring cereal, listening to this story, thinking how wonderful it would be to be able to reduce the cervical cancer rate by at least 70% just using a vaccine.

And then the reporter asked the doctor being interviewed about the controversy surrounding the vaccine. Controversy? Well, shoot, I thought. It must have some bad side effects or being very expensive. No -- apparently some people are worried that this vaccine will lead to sexual activity in young women.

I sat there a minute, stunned. What?

First of all, the vast majority of women will become sexually active at some point in their lives. Has no one told these people that this is a normal and healthy passage into adulthood? What these people are really worried about is promiscuity, not sexual activity.

So let's call it what we mean.

Even if that's the case, I'm still mad. Does anyone actually think that the threat of cervical cancer will stop young women from having sex? Has it worked so far? Does anyone actually think that if you give a 9-year-old little girl a vaccine that she will suddenly think, "Oh, I'm safe now. I can go have sex?" Ridiculous.

Would we withhold a bicycle helmet from a child because we thought it might make him reckless on two wheels? Would we remove seat belts from our cars so that our teenagers will be more careful when they drive?

What if we found that testicular cancer was caused by the herpes simplex virus (which it is not), and we had a vaccine against HSV (which we do not)? Would we frown at the vaccine because it might give young men an excuse to be "sexually active?" Of course not!

As parents, we need to do our jobs. We need to protect our children as best we can. If that means that we can vaccinate our young girls against HPV, and possibly protect them from cervical cancer, then we should do it. Then we need to remember that our jobs also include teaching our children about "sexual activity" and the joy of intimacy with a lifetime partner.

Let's not be so silly and misguided as to throw away the bicycle helmet.

Image: The view from dinner last night. We ate at Damon's, which is right on the beach, and sat on their patio. I had two other pictures to upload, but the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, so they'll have to wait.