In 2006, young women around the country were bombarded by TV commercials, billboards, and glossy magazine ads urging them to be “one less”—as in one less woman to contract human papillomavirus. The method? Gardasil, a new vaccine manufactured by Merck. Many pre-teens, and almost all teens and college-aged women have been recommended the vaccination by their pediatricians or gynecologists. Since most women would rather get three simple shots a few months apart than end up with HPV, it seems like a no-brainer. But with the $125-per-shot price tag and the risk of serious side effects associated with the vaccine, it’s important for women to know exactly what they are getting.
The Gardasil vaccine, like any other vaccine, injects you with an extremely weak strain of the virus. The strain is benign, but it will still look a lot like the real thing to your body. Exposure to this weak form of the virus—a few, ill-equipped, tired out, already-injured soldier cells—allows your body to get better at recognizing the virus’s troops, and gives it time to begin setting up its defenses. This way, if the real, full-force form of the virus does manage to get you, the antibody army that your body manufactured will be standing ready to attack.
Building up your defenses is hard work, and can take its toll on your body. Headaches, fevers, pain, nausea, dizziness—which are the most common side effects of the Gardasil vaccine—are not caused by the weakened HPV soldiers you were injected with, however. These side effects are caused by the stress associated with building a new antibody army from scratch. Some bodies have a harder time than others, and a few women who experienced much more severe illness have ended up missing months of school after receiving their shots. Still, the Food and Drug Administration and the Center for Disease Control are standing by Gardasil, continuing to ensure consumers that it is safe and effective. And while it’s not a good idea to get vaccinated if your immune system is already low due to other factors, the benefits easily outweigh the risks.
Gardasil is not perfect. HPV comes in a variety of forms, and Gardasil does not protect against all of them. It does, however, tackle the major ones, and it handles the two strains that are responsible for 70 percent of cervical cancer, and another two strains that are known to lead to 90 percent of genital warts. It’s a preventative vaccine, so if you’ve already got HPV, Gardasil won’t be able to get rid of it. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get it, though—it still protects you from the types of HPV that your body has not yet been exposed to.
You won’t need to venture too far off campus to get vaccinated, but the experience will not be entirely hassle-free. The Student Health Center is not able to purchase the vaccine in advance for you. You will need to schedule an initial appointment to get a prescription, take the prescription to a local pharmacy, pick up Gardasil from the pharmacy, and bring it back with you to a follow-up appointment during which a doctor will actually administer the shot to you.
This last bit may seem like an unnecessary bit of red tape, but don’t let it prevent you from getting the vaccine if you haven’t already. On top of being a pesky STI and health risk, HPV is the leading cause of cervical cancer. Are you really going to let a couple phone calls and a stroll to CVS prevent you from protecting yourself? Your body works hard for you, and it’s the least you can do to put in a little legwork to help it protect itself.
Show Sadaf where you got your injection at squreshi@georgetownvoice.com
The vaccine gardasil is a GMO it is the first of its kind. It is virus like particles that were made in a lab. This vaccine damaged my daughters health. You need to be more informed when writing about this poison……….Do your research. I am sure you wouldn’t want innocent childrens blood on your hands.
I apologize. Perhaps I should have presented the opposing view more fully or more carefully. Gardasil is certainly a controversial vaccine, and I strongly encourage anyone considering Gardasil to do further research, and to develop her own opinion of the vaccine. Getting vaccinated is not to be taken lightly.
Although, in the course of my research, I did come across various reports of illness and even death following vaccination, there are a few reasons why I chose to support the vaccine anyway. The vast majority of reports of adverse side effects were not serious. They included dizziness, nausea, and vomiting, which are common side effects associated with many types of medication and vaccines. Also, the reports of serious side effects such as death and blood clots have not been directly, scientifically linked to the vaccine. The CDC and FDA reported in JAMA that the rate of adverse side effects associated with Gardasil is very similar to that of other vaccines.
Serious side effects were rare. All reports of serious side effects were carefully evaluated by medical experts. No common pattern or trend that might suggest a shared cause, and thus, an association with Gardasil, was detected. In addition, the JAMA article noted that 90% of those who experienced blot clots after getting vaccinated already had other factors (like oral contraceptives and smoking) that put them at greater risk for clots.
These two pages posted on the CDC’s website strongly influenced my opinion. (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/Vaccines/HPV/gardasil.html)
(http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/Vaccines/HPV/jama.html)
While there were many sad stories floating around on the internet, they all came from lay people who couldn’t show a clear correlation. In addition, most physicians are still quite confident that Gardasil’s benefits outweigh its risks.
Still, Gardasil is relatively new, so its safety will need to continue to be investigated and evaluated.