STD vaccine causes controversy

3/28/28The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that 26 percent of females between the ages of 14 and 19 are infected with a sexually transmitted disease (STD). The two most common STDs found were human papilloma virus (HPV) and chlamydia.

HPV can cause genital warts and lead to cervical cancer. The CDC reports that 3,700 women died of cervical cancer in 2006, but a vaccine for HPV, Gardasil, is available and can be given to females ages nine to 26.

There are more than 40 strains of HPV and Gardasil helps guard against four different types - two of which cause 70 percent of cervical cancer cases and the other two types, which cause 90 percent of genital warts cases.

Tish Worrell, mother of an 11-year-old daughter, made sure her daughter received the three-part vaccination as soon as she turned 11 (the recommended age to start receiving the vaccine).

"I absolutely encourage mothers to get their daughters vaccinated," Worrell said. She knows a mother who won't let her daughters get the vaccine because she feels it is too risky, saying that it is too new and worries what the effects will be years down the road.

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) has issued its own warnings about the vaccine. Vicky Debold, their health policy analyst, says the evidence of the vaccine's bad effects is there.

The NVIC reports the side effects of Gardasil can include severe headaches, dizziness, temporary loss of vision, and loss of consciousness due to seizures.
Worrell "didn't think twice" about her daughter getting the vaccine. She knows firsthand the dangers of HPV because she was infected with the virus while attending college.

She found out she carried the virus after discovering she had genital warts. She hasn't had a breakout in years, but still worries with each annual screening that something might show up indicating cervical cancer.

Luckily, the HPV was not transmitted to her daughter during childbirth. It is extremely rare, but there are cases when children are infected with HPV from their mothers when delivered vaginally.

Worrell knows that she will have to reveal to future sexual partners that she carries the virus.

Twenty-two year old Marie Ramirez (not her real name) found out she had HPV three and half years ago. A boyfriend who neglected to tell her he carried the virus infected her. This man had also infected a previous girlfriend who ended up with cervical cancer.

Unlike Worrell, Ramirez had no symptoms. She discovered she had the virus after a Pap test revealed abnormal cells. Doctors told Ramirez that the cells could possibly be cancerous and needed to be biopsied. This involved much painful scraping and cutting pieces of the cervix. Her test results were negative for cervical cancer.
Having HPV has changed Ramirez's life. She appreciates life much more because she knows that something much worse could have happened to her.

She's much more careful when it comes to deciding on a sexual partner. She knows to ask about one's sexual history and make sure that the partner doesn't have any STDs. She also always uses protection.
Ramirez recommends without hesitation that females get the vaccine.

"I want people to be aware that it happens a lot more than people think," Ramirez said.