God must be big fan of his own handiwork. Especially the very cool job he has done (non-evolutionarily) with viruses. They are almost perfect. Perfect little disease making machines. Unless of course your immune system recognizes them and prevents them from taking hold. Thats what vaccines do. They give our immune systems little Most-Wanted posters so our cells can be on the lookout for certain unsavory little viruses and prevent them from wreaking havoc in our bodies.
One such little trouble maker is HPV (human papilloma virus) among its rap sheet is its ability to cause genital warts and more frighteningly its implication in causing cervical cancer. HPV is sexually transmitted and happens to be fairly common. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and prevention) :
Approximately 20 million people are currently infected with HPV. At least 50 percent of sexually active men and women acquire genital HPV infection at some point in their lives. By age 50, at least 80 percent of women will have acquired genital HPV infection. About 6.2 million Americans get a new genital HPV infection each year.A few years back Merck developed a vaccine to prevent 4 of the more virulent strains of HPV most associated with cancer. It is too early to say for sure the exact impact of this vaccine but with 3700 deaths from cervical cancer in the US alone (much higher in other countries without agressive sceenings such as PAP smears etc.) it has the potential to save many many lives.
Two of my own daughters (ages 15 and 14) have received the vaccine and pediatricians across the world are recommending it to girls (vaccine is only tested and approved for girls) and can be given as early as age 9 an up to 26. When my youngest is old enough I will certainly make sure she gets vaccinated as well.
In Canada, a Ontario school board held a hearing last night to decide whether they should ban the vaccine which is currently offered to its 8 grade girls in an attempt to reduce the number of cervical cancer cases. Fortunately they decided against the ban. Why in the world would anyone want to ban such a potentially life saving vaccine you ask? Yep you guessed it RELIGION.
It seems the Bishops of the province weighed in and demanded it be pulled from the schools. You see since HPV is sexually transmitted and in their eyes there is no reason to have sex if you are not married and if you do well, thats a sin and ..I assume they think you DESERVE cancer. Not very Christian of them is it? They go on to say in a letter to the school board:
It is up to parents to decide whether their daughters get the vaccine, but HPV can only be contracted through sex, and sex outside marriage carries "profound risks to a young person's spiritual, emotional, moral and physical health," the Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a statement.This is the same sort of logic that the Catholic church is actively spreading throughout the continent of Africa and condeming the use of condoms despite the pandemic status of HIV.
This is the most disgusting and deplorable miscarriage of morality. It should be criminal to use fear and cause the needless deaths of thousands of people! (Insert President Bush comment here)
I can't wait until someone develops a vaccine for religion!
Oh wait we already have one...... It's called THINKING!!!!!
Get yourself vaccinated today!
6 comments:
The problem with pushing these drugs is that we may be giving girls the wrong impression about cervical cancer. "Hey, I got the HPV vaccine and now I don't have to go have a PAP test as often. The vaccine is protecting me."
Secondly, they're still in the testing phase. They also don't know how the vaccine will affect pre-teens as the testing range was between 16 and 26 year olds. Do you feel safe giving your 9 and 10 year olds a vaccine that was not tested on their age group? We hesitate to give kids tylenol before they're 12. Why stop at a vaccine?
Just a thought.
PS. I do, however, agree about your religious statement.
Yes, I agree we need to make sure that these girls know that the vaccine doesn't protect them against other STD's and they will still require sceenings. Is this a reason to NOT use the vaccine? Come on!
The FDA has approved its use in girls age 9-26 BECAUSE it WAS tested on this age group!( over 11,000 subjects) Do a little research. Try the FDA or CDC I would recommend staying away from wingnuts like the national vaccine information center. Mercury and Autism...Just plain SILLY!
So to answer your question, YES I feel safe giving it to my kids since my daughters have received the vaccine I thought that would be obvious, but...ok.
Your analogy between a drug such as Tylenol and a vaccine is simply ridiculous.
Finally, I don't know if you have children, but should you talk to a pediatrician they will tell you that Tylenol is THE DRUG OF CHOICE FOR fevers in children. No hesitation. Just prudent judgment.
All drugs / vaccinations have the potential for adverse effects, this is why we test (and monitor). In this case the benefits clearly outweigh the risks.
Just as long as it's still o.k. for Catholic priests to diddle young boys and then have the church cover it up. Remember Vin, we have to keep in mind what is important to these guys!
Amen Brother! You should only use fear to cause the death of thousands if you can gain from it financially.
Well-fret not, Art. You can be assured that the Catholic church does indeed profit from fear financially as well as corporally.
Thinking won't cure Christianity, unfortunately.
The only true cure for this virus is an AK.
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