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Saying cervical cancer is preventable with routine Pap smears is so misleading. Yes, a Pap smear can find cancer and precancerous cells. But the Pap smear does nothing to treat it. It won't make it go away. Have you ever had a cervical biopsy? Have you ever had to wait 48 hours to find out if you have cancer, or squeaked through on it? Have you ever had a sizable chunk of your cervix removed, then gone for quarterly Pap smears to ensure you remain cancer free? I don't recommend it.
Kids engage in very reckless behavior. The HPV vaccine can protect them from catching the virus that can cause cancer. Do you think this is an arbitrary decision? What do you think is the actual reason for a rule like this?
I believe the point was that in a school setting where they are saying it is to protect students that cannot be vaccinated. Vaccines like HPV and Tetanus do not fit that agenda. So what agenda do they have for requiring them?
It's not misleading, it is the truth. If a person gets routine pap smears then they can detect and catch precancerous changes to the cervical cells and can then receive treatment to prevent it from moving forward to cervical cancer. It is highly treatable. Even the CDC talks about how pap smears prevent cervical cancer.
Despite your personal feeling regarding this. The decision on whether or not to get the HPV vaccine should remain a choice and not made into a mandate. It's a decision that a parent can make with their teenage children. The state and the school districts have no right to mandate a vaccination for a disease that is not spread via casual contact in the classroom. It is a major overreach.
The HPV vaccine is a different case than measles etc. because of the lower risk of transfer to an unknowing stranger. My girls both had it, as I feel they're fortunate to be able to prevent a cancer (having lost my mother to cancer.
Finding out you have cancer is not as clear as you imply. My mother received regular breast cancer screening. Between two screenings she developed cancer and it killed her a short time later.
I don't feel as strongly about the need for mandatory HPV vaccinations, but I can't for the life of me (no pun intended) understand why any parent wouldn't prevent their child from contracting cancer given the opportunity.
I find this especially concerning considering the fact this vaccine is said to protect against an STD and is not spread through casual contact, ie., in the classroom at school. While I believe that people should always have the right to choose in terms of medication and vaccinations, this vaccine in particular seems especially absurd to be a part of a statewide mandate. Cervical cancer is preventable with routine pap smears. People should have the right to choose. Parents have reported severe side effects from this vaccine, even though the industry ignores them or claims that they are not related, I choose to listen.
Leebeemi beat me to it.
She points out why Pap smears do not prevent cancer. They can only catch it after the process has started, hopefully before it has become invasive. By preventing the HPV infection that causes the cancer, the HPV vaccine prevents cancer. In addition, Pap smears sometimes do miss cancers. They also have a high false positive rate, resulting in women having additional unnecessary testing.
Parents have reported illnesses in children who have been vaccinated. Investigation of those illnesses, through an extensive surveillance system, has found no illnesses that are more common in children who have received the vaccine than those who have not. Industry is not "ignoring" serious complications from HPV vaccine. They pretty much do not exist.
The HPV vaccine is a different case than measles etc. because of the lower risk of transfer to an unknowing stranger. My girls both had it, as I feel they're fortunate to be able to prevent a cancer (having lost my mother to cancer.
Finding out you have cancer is not as clear as you imply. My mother received regular breast cancer screening. Between two screenings she developed cancer and it killed her a short time later.
I don't feel as strongly about the need for mandatory HPV vaccinations, but I can't for the life of me (no pun intended) understand why any parent wouldn't prevent their child from contracting cancer given the opportunity.
We are not talking about breast cancer. We are talking about cervical cancer which is highly treatable when caught early. Routine pap smears allow for that to happen. The vaccine is not risk free. It should be a choice.
I believe the point was that in a school setting where they are saying it is to protect students that cannot be vaccinated. Vaccines like HPV and Tetanus do not fit that agenda. So what agenda do they have for requiring them?
Precisely. A 7th Grader is not going to give Cervical Cancer to a 2nd Grader. A HS student is not going to give lockjaw to anyone either.
They are just pushing these vaccines, period, even when they are not contagious to anyone else. Hey, I heard this myself from another poster for not vaccinating myself as an adult with Tetanus. MYOB. This vaccine does not concern others at all.
These people have CONTROL issues and want to demand other people do as they say, even when it will not affect them at all. March, sheep!
She points out why Pap smears do not prevent cancer. They can only catch it after the process has started, hopefully before it has become invasive. By preventing the HPV infection that causes the cancer, the HPV vaccine prevents cancer. In addition, Pap smears sometimes do miss cancers. They also have a high false positive rate, resulting in women having additional unnecessary testing.
Parents have reported illnesses in children who have been vaccinated. Investigation of those illnesses, through an extensive surveillance system, has found no illnesses that are more common in children who have received the vaccine than those who have not. Industry is not "ignoring" serious complications from HPV vaccine. They pretty much do not exist.
Routine Pap smears are highly effective in detecting precancerous changes to the cervical cells thus preventing cervical cancer. It is your choice to get the vaccine or not. However, this should not be tied to the right to attend public school since it is not something that can be spread via casual contact in the classroom. Serious complications have been reported and do exists from this vaccination. It is not risk free.
We should be educating our children on the importance of routine pap smears. This is a sad statistic.
Quote:
Percent of women 18 years of age and over who had a Pap test within the past 3 years: 69.4% (2013)
We are not talking about breast cancer. We are talking about cervical cancer which is highly treatable when caught early. Routine pap smears allow for that to happen. The vaccine is not risk free. It should be a choice.
I there is literally nothing that is risk free.
And how is it that the anti-vax anecdotal evidence is so much more important than the pro-vax? Interesting.
But I ask again: what do you think is the reason behind these mandates?
Routine Pap smears are highly effective in detecting precancerous changes to the cervical cells thus preventing cervical cancer. It is your choice to get the vaccine or not. However, this should not be tied to the right to attend public school since it is not something that can be spread via casual contact in the classroom. Serious complications have been reported and do exists from this vaccination. It is not risk free.
And if they are so worried about HPV, why not HIV or other STDs which also cause things like death, infertility...?
"'In the interest of public health, restrictions and barriers to condom use should be removed,' the academy, the leading organization of pediatricians, says." Docs: Give Teens Condoms in High School - ABC News
We are not talking about breast cancer. We are talking about cervical cancer which is highly treatable when caught early. Routine pap smears allow for that to happen. The vaccine is not risk free. It should be a choice.
The diagnostic tests and treatment for cervical cancer are not risk free either.
You are more likely to have a serious complication from a cervical biopsy than you are from a vaccine. Large biopsies can result in hemorrhage, infection, scarring of the cervix (which sometime makes getting accurate followup Pap smears difficult), difficulty getting pregnant, and preterm birth.
At a minimum, treatment for a true cervical cancer will almost certainly result in sterility. Such treatment may involve extensive surgery and/or radiation therapy, each of which carries risks - far more likely and serious than risks of HPV vaccination.
And how is it that the anti-vax anecdotal evidence is so much more important than the pro-vax? Interesting.
But I ask again: what do you think is the reason behind these mandates?
If it is not risk free then how can you mandate it? Routine pap screening is very effective in preventing cervical cancer. People can choose to get the HPV vaccine if they would like to. No need to firce people into getting it. I don't know what is up with the mandates. Do you?
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