This is an opinion piece, so take it fwiw, but really?
This is an opinion piece, so take it fwiw, but really? We're still hung up on OMG FREE SEX VACCINE? Because, cancer, meh? Women still die from this. Sure, death rates have gone way, way down (in this part of the world) because of the charming custom of invasive exams, but all that does is catch it before it kills you. There is still potential morbidity, depending on how early it's caught, and what has to be done to you to kill the cancer and keep you alive. How about something that could prevent you from EVER HAVING THIS CANCER? Yeah, it's not perfect (what is), but I am so beboggled that we are still having to fight off this kind of superstitious ignorance.
HPV is a virus; it causes cancer. Studies of vaccination rates with anti-HPV vaccines have yet to show a correlated increase in sexual activity, but so far seem to show a decreased rate of HPV transmission. What is so hard to grasp, here?
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/831348?nlid=65504_1521&src=wnl_edit_medp_wir&uac=21663HG&spon=17
HPV is a virus; it causes cancer. Studies of vaccination rates with anti-HPV vaccines have yet to show a correlated increase in sexual activity, but so far seem to show a decreased rate of HPV transmission. What is so hard to grasp, here?
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/831348?nlid=65504_1521&src=wnl_edit_medp_wir&uac=21663HG&spon=17
Maybe people should talk more about it killing men. Straight men, that is. No one wants cancer of the penis.
ReplyDelete(Honestly, I think a lot of people just don't want to think about the implications. I mean, for instance, my grandmother had a hysterectomy in her 30s because they found early cervical cancer, and I 100% know she is not interested in hearing that this probably means Grandpa schtupped someone else at some point. Better to pretend the link was never found.)
But it is so slow growing, he could have slept with someone before they were even married, unless it's a total ban on ever had sex with anyone thoughts. Which, I guess, is kinda my point? Not talking kinda can kill you? Hoping she was ok otherwise. I still don't understand why they won't let anyone over 26 get the vaccine, if they think it's effective.
ReplyDeleteI never once talked about sex with either of my grandparents, but I'd wager huge sums of money that if the cancer in question was in fact an HPV-related one, then he got the virus in WWII, which was before he ever even met Grandma. But sex is for married people, donchaknow, not for lonely, scared soldiers who think they're about to die thousands of miles from home.
ReplyDelete(and yes, that cancer never resurfaced, so she was OK otherwise. Still is, actually, though he eventually succumbed to a squamous cell carcinoma of his own, albeit not in that century.)
ReplyDeleteF-L Silver- it's really stupid. It's because the original drug study was only done on people 26 and younger, therefore the drug is only approved on people 26 and younger. To which I say, let me sign a damn waiver and get the vaccine- I'll risk it.
ReplyDeleteFree sex vaccine sounds awesome. Maybe they should just start advertising it as that.
ReplyDeleteAlistair Young because we have to prove that the thing doesn't make nine-year- olds into sex maniacs, like opponents claim.
ReplyDeleteBecause if there's one thing children are known for, it's thinking through the consequences of their actions.
ReplyDeleteAllyson Williamson IK, R? I knew one of the people leading one of the original clinical research sites on the phase three trials, and, boy, howdy, you shoulda heard this old, Missouri, Southern gentleman, and how irate he was about the stupid OMG SEX idiots and how they were one of the reasons no one has ever been able to do trials in anyone older than 26, and originally not in boys/men. Granted the assumption that they'd only find people who hadn't been exposed to HPV under that age (and here I laugh for obvious reasons), but they could totally have expanded the trials after they showed it to be safe. How many negative PCRs do they want? It's not CMV, ya know. Besides, MDs are, in fact, licensed to make medical decisions that allow them to do stuff off-label and without evidence based medicine. For exactly reasons like this. But I've asked, and no one will give me the vaccine. Thanks, lawsuits and the irrational fear thereof.
ReplyDeleteAfaik, Alistair Young , nobody has published a genuine study of that. It's just that it's what Amy Young said. Even if you did a study, they wouldn't believe you, because SATAN! or something logical like that.
ReplyDeleteMy 11-year-old son is getting it this year. He's not even started showing any physical signs of puberty, but he's old enough to get it, so he will.
ReplyDeleteF-L Silver- no one will give it to above-26ers here, either. Not even if they know that you're a health care professional and are aware of the "risks".
ReplyDelete