Paul Willis and agencies
Friday October 6, 2006
Guardian Unlimited

A leading medical journal today said a vaccine that could protect thousands of women from cervical cancer should be made compulsory for schoolgirls.

The Lancet called for the Gardasil vaccination – which protects against the human papilloma virus (HPV) – to be made available to all 11 and 12-year-olds.

HPV causes changes to cells that can lead to cervical cancer and most cases of genital warts.

The vaccine, which should reduce deaths from cervical cancer by 70%, has caused controversy among some Christian groups, who object to it being given to girls before they become sexually active.

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Last week, the European commission approved the sale of the vaccine across the UK and Europe. Women will be able to buy Gardasil privately, but it has not yet been decided whether it will be available on the NHS.

A government survey of parents’ attitudes to early vaccines suggested there would not be widespread resistance to a vaccination campaign.

In its editorial, the Lancet pointed to the US, where Gardasil immunisations were recently made compulsory for all 11 and 12-year-old girls in the state of Michigan.

“This is the first legislation of its kind in the USA, and a decision from which the EU member states should take heed,” the editorial said.

The European licence allows the vaccine to be given to all females aged from nine to 26. The journal said there was growing support for giving the vaccine to boys as well, because men can also be carriers of HPV.

Studies have shown the immunisation of women alone would only prove around one third as effective as targeting both sexes.

They highlighted the rubella vaccination programme, which was widened to include boys in 1995 after a rise in the number of pregnant women contracting the disease.

“For effective and long-term eradication of HPV, all adolescents must be immunised,” the Lancet editorial said.

“Data from the vaccine trials in boys are urgently needed; in the meantime, EU member states should lead by making the vaccination mandatory for all girls aged 11-12 years.”

Around 80% of sexually active women can expect to receive an HPV infection at some stage in their life. Cervical cancer caused by the virus kills an estimated 230,000 people a year, with 1,100 of those in the UK.

Gardasil, which is made by Sanofi Pasteur and Merck and Co, is one of two vaccines that have been racing for approval. It is already licensed in Australia, Mexico and the US, where the three-dose, six-month course costs around $195 (£100).

A rival product, Cervarix – made by GlaxoSmithKline – is thought to be likely to gain European approval in early 2007.

However, Alex Markham, the chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said women should continue to attend for cervical smears even if a national vaccination programme was introduced.

“Current vaccines do not prevent all cancer-related HPV strains,” he said. […]

Guardian

They are going to harvest FOUR BILLION PER YEAR with this vaccination. THAT is the real reason why they are pushing it. They assume that your daughters are whores, who WILL contract HPV.

They are beyond belief!

Merck (Research) is appealing to states to make the vaccine mandatory for all children who attend public schools. A mandate from the states, which control vaccination policies, would make Gardasil a guaranteed blockbuster.

That’s crucial for the nation’s fourth-largest drugmaker, which is still struggling to replace revenues lost after the 2004 withdrawal of its blockbuster arthritis medicine, Vioxx, in addition to shrinking sales of its cholesterol drug Zocor, as it faces generic competition this summer.

Gardasil is almost certain to be approved by the FDA, say analysts, who place the medicine’s annual peak revenue potential in the $2 to $4 billion range. Those estimates assume states will make Gardasil mandatory. The shots are given three times over a six month period, and will cost anywhere between $300 and $500. The vaccine lasts for up to five years.

So it only lasts FIVE YEARS.

You are forced to give it to your whore daughter when she is nine, and then by the time she is sweet sixteen, and much more likely to be whoring around (ALL sixteen year olds are whores RIGHT?) the vaccine will have worn off.

This is nothing more than an enormous SCAM.

Inoculating pre-adolescent girls for a sexually-transmitted virus raises concerns for many parents – not just Christian conservatives. A survey of 1,600 mothers and fathers published in the journal Pediatrics found that 35 percent are against having their child inoculated.

Damn right.

Fisher says mainstream parental opposition to Gardasil is easy to explain. “Parents are becoming more concerned about the shear number of vaccines kids are getting these days,” she says. “In the 1980s, U.S. children got 23 doses of seven vaccines by age six. Today, they get 48 doses of 14 vaccines in the same period.”

“And during the time that vaccines doses have doubled,” she says, “there’s been an increase in the number of children with autism, attention deficit and hyperactive disorder, learning disabilities, asthma, and diabetes, in which vaccines could be a contributing factor.”

FOURTY EIGHT DOSES!!!!!

Fisher is strongly opposed to Merck’s proposals to inoculate girls at age 9, which is six years before the average age of first sexual experience in the United States “It’s just profit-making on the backs of 9-year-old girls,” charges Fisher.

did he say that?!

You can’t make stuff like up.

And these days, you don’t have to.

Even Merc employees are against it:

Gardasil: The Coming Battle

Yesterday, the FDA approved Gardasil–a vaccine for four strains of HPV which cause genital warts and cervical cancer–for 9- to 26-year-old girls and women. For obvious reasons, Merck is marketing Gardasil as a “cancer vaccine,” not an STD vaccine. Nevertheless, one only has to look at the patient population for which Gardasil was approved to recognize the seeds of a major national controversy: nine to twenty-six-year-old girls and women.

The medical reason for immunizing a 9-year-old girl against an STD is that the vaccine is most effective when administered before the onset of sexual activity. (I am unsure whether this means that a 4-5 year lead time is necessary or that the medical community is anticipating some very unsettling situations.) Not only will parents face the choice of whether to immunize their daughters against an STD, but private religious insurers will have to decide whether to cover the cost of the vaccine (anticipated to be $360 per 3-dose regimen). You can expect there will be lawsuits over that.

Most controversial, however, will be the decision by school districts whether to make Gardasil mandatory for attending school. As opposed to contagious diseases like measles, HPV infection is easily avoided by not engaging in sexual activity. Vaccines are among the safest medical products available, but they still carry a small amount of risk. Why force a student to accept that risk to protect against an entirely avoidable disease?

(In the interest of full disclosure, I am employed by Merck.)

Posted by Eric Seymour at June 9, 2006 08:58 AM […] Agora

!!!

Gibson says if Gardasil does become part of the state immunization schedule, it would be different than those vaccines that are already routine. “It’s an interesting concept,” says Gibson. “It takes away from the concept of communicable disease – of getting kids sick, staff sick – to health promotions. That would be a huge leap if they do that. That’s a very different type of issue.”

About 64 percent of vaccines are covered by private insurance. The state’s Vaccines for Children plan picks up those without insurance. Still, as with other vaccines, there may be about 18 percent not covered.

If the HPV vaccine does become part of the school requirement in Michigan, parents will be able to opt out for medical, religious or philosophical reasons. […]

WWMT

Opt out!! Hmmmmm…

In Florida:

(e) Effective with the 2001/2002 school year, prior to admittance, attendance, or transfer to a preschool or kindergarten, completion of varicella vaccination. Each subsequent year thereafter the next highest grade will be included in the requirement so that students transferring into Florida schools are added to the immunized cohort, with the exception of Haemophilus influenzae type b required only prior to admittance, attendance or transfer to a Florida preschool. The manner and frequency of administration of the immunizations shall conform to recognized standards of medical practice. Each child whose documented immunizations fall short of all requirements listed above shall present a completed DH Form 680 Florida Certification of Immunization Temporary Medical Exemption (Part B), or a completed DH Form 680 Florida Certification of Immunization Permanent Medical Exemption (Part C), incorporated by reference in subsection 64D-3.011(5), F.A.C.; Part C listing the exemption for specific immunization(s), or a completed DH Form 681, Religious Exemption from Immunization, as incorporated by reference in subsection 64D-3.011(5), F.A.C., to be filed with said Florida public or nonpublic school, grades preschool and kindergarten through 12. […]

2. Religious Exemptions – Religious Exemption requests must be presented on DH Form 681, Religious Exemption From Immunization, incorporated by reference in subsection 64D-3.011(5), F.A.C., which is to be issued only by county health departments. […]

(6) Florida SHOTS (State Health Online Tracking System) Opt Out Provision – Parents or guardians may elect to decline participation in the Florida immunization registry, Florida SHOTS, by completing a DH Form 1478, Florida SHOTS Notification and Opt Out Form, as incorporated by reference in subsection 64D-3.011(10), F.A.C. and returning the form to the Department of Health. The immunization records of children whose parents choose to opt-out will not be shared with other entities that are allowed by law to have access to the child’s immunization record via authorized access to Florida SHOTS. […]

Unbelievable:

Birth Exemptions:

For those who are planning a hospital birth but want to evade invasive routine post natal procedures such as a Hep B shot, vitamin K injection, newborn screening, or the application of silver nitrate in the newborn’s eyes, a very specific birthing plan must be submitted to the hospital in advance of the birth. Hospital staff must be informed, in advance, of your needs, wants and desires where your baby and birthing experience are concerned. The same applies to midwives.

Sample Vaccine Letters From this website… http://www.vaccines.bizland.com/letters.htm

Most states now require the Hepatitis B vaccine for newborns. Many parents are also cornered by emergency room personnel during accident visits. Hospitals nationally are under pressure to utilize every opportunity to score a “hit.” […] Florida Immunization Exceptions

Vaccine Exemption Forms Online – by State or Country

Silver Nitrate in the newborn eye?

No, thats ‘Silver Spoon in the MOUTH’.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 6th, 2006 at 1:48 pm and is filed under Insanity.