Sex, cancer, and our children - why it is important to vaccinate against papilloma

Among the multitude of venereal diseases there are two that cause cancer - viral hepatitis type B and the papilloma virus. Both have vaccines that can save us from them. Dr. Karen Landsman responds to opponents of the HPV vaccine

After the beginning of giving vaccinations against the papilloma virus to XNUMXth grade girls began to arouse opposition (and demanded a response) We hereby bring the Landsman Foundation's article about the importance of the vaccine to prevent cancer, especially when the side effects are not as serious as the opponents describe them.

Let's talk about sex.

Women with men, women with women, men with men and everything in between - this thing that grown people do with each other. Sometimes for fun, sometimes to argue and argue, sometimes under duress, sometimes because that is what is expected of them at their age level. Sometimes you don't do anything at all and just want to.

Well, sex.

We don't like to talk about sex. In our society it is a taboo subject that can only be violated in certain cases, and only subject to specific rules. Women are allowed to talk about him with their girlfriends, less so with their boyfriends. Men are allowed to talk about him, as long as they don't admit that sometimes they are in love with the girl they sleep with. And of course same-sex couples are strictly forbidden in certain societies. Don't talk about it and certainly don't do it.

And the topic we least like to talk about is sex among our children. I'm not talking about pedophilia. I mean the moment when they will be enthusiastic teenagers (just like we were) or shy twenty-plus-year-olds, or thirty-plus-year-olds who haven't experienced anything yet and think they have to hide it from the whole world. At some point they will sleep with someone, which is something we parents don't like to think about.

In the same topic on the science website:

• Research in the USA - the vaccine against the papilloma virus reduced the number of infections with the deadly viruses by 56% among girls
• The Nobel Prize for Medicine for the discovery of AIDS and the discovery of the link between the papilloma virus and cervical cancer

Even if we don't want to admit it, with all our openness, we all know that our beautiful daughter will only sleep with the knight of her dreams (who will also be a virgin, of course), her all-eyed high school sweetheart. And our son? He will choose his partner with great care until he enters her into the covenant of marriage before breaking her virginity. And only with one girl.

And the thing we like to talk about even less is sexually transmitted diseases.

Venereal diseases, as we know, infect only the sluts, the gays, the one who dresses too revealing or the one who starts with everything that moves. Never our children.

And if sexually transmitted diseases are mentioned, then it is clear that when our children sleep with their heart's desire, they will do it with the utmost care - with a condom, always voluntarily, never under pressure, never because that is what they think is expected of them, never by mistake, never Not when they are drunk or flying for some other reason. Right?

Who are we working for? After all, our children will make exactly the same mistakes as us, or they will manage to make completely new mistakes. They will forget to put a condom on, they will sleep with casual partners, and they will mostly be sure that they are fine because they are much smarter and more understanding than us, their parents. There are teenagers today who are convinced that sex means penetration, therefore any sexual act without penetration is fine and safe. There are many sexually transmitted diseases. Lots. Most of them are also transmitted through sexual intercourse without penetration. Herpes and gonorrhea, for example, are also transmitted through oral sex. AIDS can be transmitted through oral sex. And we haven't talked about chlamydia, bacterial diseases and more.

Most of these diseases can be prevented by using a condom, which is indeed a genius invention, but few men use it. And if you are going to say that whoever sleeps with a man without a condom deserves it, remember that it could be your daughter. Because she has been with her boyfriend for a long time, and he promised her that she was his first. And yes, it is clear to me that *your* son is not gay, so he will never have to ask the man he is with to put on a condom. And in any case, they will do a blood test first, because they are responsible and serious children. But no, it is not possible to do a blood test for *all* sexually transmitted diseases.

And they will be exposed to diseases. Don't mislead yourselves. In some cases they will "trigger" something that can be cured. Gonorrhea and syphilis can still be cured with antibiotics. But herpes, for example, is a gift for life. It is enough to read the story of one girl who contracted herpes "down there" to understand what a terrible disease this is.

Among the many sexually transmitted diseases there are two that cause cancer - viral hepatitis type B and the papilloma virus.

Viral hepatitis causes liver cancer which kills within a year at best. It is transmitted through blood, unprotected sex, but also through child bites. About ten percent of the children who get infected with viral hepatitis B are infected even before school age. Israel has been vaccinating against the disease since 1994, and today its carrier rates are very low. This is a fascinating disease that will get its own record one day. The current record refers to a papilloma.

about the virus

Its full name is human papilloma virus or HPV for short. The papilloma virus is one of the most beautiful viruses out there. It looks a bit like a bouquet of flowers. There are over a hundred types of viruses in the family of papillomaviruses, of which about forty can be transmitted through sexual contact. Two of them, types 16 and 18, cause 70% of cervical cancers. The other types, especially type 6 and 11 cause genital warts. It is a disease that causes the appearance of a benign "tumor" in the genitals, causes terrible shame and is considered a disease that greatly affects the self-image of the sick person.

Half (!) of sexually active people carry the papilloma virus. Please note - carrying the virus does not necessarily mean that the person is sick. Many times the carrier remains a carrier, continues to infect, but does not get sick himself. Sometimes the virus breaks out, sometimes years after the original infection.

Unlike other sexually transmitted viruses, papilloma is not transmitted exclusively by contact of mucous membranes. It is also transmitted by skin-to-skin contact. Which means *any* contact could transmit it. And worst of all - there is a very high risk of infection Already in the first sexual contact in life.
A bouquet of flowers virus

A bouquet of flowers virus

about the cancer

The papilloma virus, mainly types 16 and 18, but also other types can cause cancer in any organ that participates in sexual relations. This is not the "Clinton" definition of sexual relations, but the anatomical definition - every organ. The papilloma virus can cause cervical cancer, rectal cancer, oropharyngeal cancer, vaginal cancer, penile cancer and much more.

In Israel every year between 200 and 300 women get cervical cancer. About 70 women among them died.

As in the case of breast cancer, cervical cancer can also be detected early. With a Pap test, you can check cells from the cervix and see if there is a malignant change in them, that is, if there are cancer cells in the cervix. This test is able to detect the presence of cancer, but it Not efficient enough. It detects only 60-80% of cancer cases, and what is equally bad - in 20% of cases it detects a positive result when the woman is actually completely healthy. But the more serious problem is that a Pap test is only good for detecting cancer when it is already there. Like a mammogram that detects breast cancer when it's already there, or a occult blood test in the stool that detects bowel cancer when it's already there.

In the case of breast cancer and bowel cancer, we still do not have a way to prevent cancer in a good way, except for recommending a life full of healthy food, sports and good genetics.

In the case of cervical cancer and the other cancers mentioned - there is something to be done.

about the vaccine

The vaccine consists of enveloped particles of the papilloma virus included in the vaccine. There is one vaccine that contains particles from four different viruses and there is a vaccine that contains particles from only two viruses. These particles are important for early detection by the immune system, so that as soon as it encounters the virus, it knows how to recognize and destroy it. They are not related to the ability of the virus to cause cancer. That is, injecting the vaccine into the body will *not* cause cancer. Not for cervical cancer, not for penile cancer, and not for any of the other cancers mentioned above.

But here is the thorn in her side - you must get vaccinated *before* exposure to the virus. If someone has already been exposed to the papillomavirus type 16, for example, the vaccine will not help prevent cancer in her. That is why the age of giving the vaccine is set before the age of starting sexual intercourse.

The vaccine has been in use since 2006 in the USA and since 2007 in Australia (where the vaccine is also approved for boys and not just girls). The vaccine is in use in another 100 countries, including most European countries, Canada, New Zealand, etc.

To date, over 175 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed worldwide, with the side effects of all doses monitored by the World Health Organization, both in Western countries and in developing countries (where a special fund finances the cost of the vaccine).

Three years after the start of vaccination in Australia A significant decrease was observed in the rate of warts in the genitals and premalignant lesions in the genitals.

It was a study that tested an interesting question, but was performed in a problematic way, so the Australians tested the issue again after five years of using the vaccine. It turned out she was A significant decrease in the rate of genital warts among women in yearlings vaccinated against papilloma. It is expected that there will be a decrease in the rate of cancer caused by the papillomavirus in a few years. In light of these results, starting in 2013, Australia started a vaccination program for men as well.

about the side effects of the vaccine

The known side effects of the vaccine include pain, redness and heat at the injection site. In addition, there may be a feeling of dizziness, and therefore it is recommended to give the vaccine while sitting.

All other side effects linked to the vaccine have been refuted. all of them. Also "paralysis of the hand", because of which Japan considered stopping the vaccination program against papilloma. Meanwhile, by the way, The vaccine was returned to the vaccination program there.

Several articles have recently been published that link the papilloma vaccine to the onset of lupus, which is a severe autoimmune disease that attacks young women, as well as to the onset of early ovarian failure. Both of these articles included case studies of a total of nine women, with no comparison to the rate of these side effects in the general population. In order to determine that the vaccine does indeed cause these diseases, one must first compare the rates of lupus and ovarian failure among vaccine recipients with the rate of these diseases in the general population. Both articles end with the statement that the subject should be further investigated, but clearly do not recommend stopping vaccinations.

Neither the World Health Organization nor the US Centers for Disease Control reported such a connection. Not only, in separate vaccine safety studies, One of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) And the second of World Health Organization They specifically refer to the side effects of the vaccine, none of which are lupus, premature ovarian failure, paralysis of the hand, etc.

According to the advisory committee to the Ministry of Health for infectious diseases and vaccines In the interpretation there is no connection between the events described and the vaccine. This is both according to the knowledge accumulated in the world and according to Israeli knowledge.

You have to understand that terrible and terrible things happen sometimes. Ovaries of young women stop functioning. Their body turns against itself. They get sick, and sometimes young women even die. In order to prove that these things are related to the vaccine, it is necessary to show that these events happen with a higher frequency among the women who received the vaccine compared to women who did not receive the vaccine. If, for example, women who received the papilloma vaccine had a higher incidence of lupus, we would see this information in the US, Australia, Europe, and everywhere else where vaccines are given. Not just in case studies of just nine women. Certainly not after eight years of giving the vaccine all over the world.

And what are you going to do?

I have two children. One still thinks girls are yuck and the other still plays with dolls. When they are in eighth grade they will receive the vaccine, because even though I fantasize that my daughter will marry her high school sweetheart and my son will marry the virgin choice of his heart, it is clear to me that sex is something that everyone does, and anyone can catch sexually transmitted diseases. I can't protect my children from everything, but at least I can protect them from this cancer.

-

As usual, many thanks Lehud Maimon For the pre-reading, editing and scolding "go study now!"

To continue reading:

• More on the transmission of viral hepatitis B between children - In an organized information page, neat and bright, bFirst interesting article, BSecond interesting article, And in the article Interesting but very old (Because that's how it is when there is a vaccine for more than twenty years).
• More information about STDs From the CDC website.
• More about cervical cancer fromAmerican Cancer Society, AndFrom the CDC home page Dedicated to a subject that contains huge amounts of information. And of course, let's not forget theCancer Society who devoted a long and informative page to the subject.
• position paper of the Israeli Association of Pediatrics regarding the papilloma vaccine.
• information about Cervical cancer rates in Israel (Caution - an ancient and terribly annoying site).

To the original article on the website "The End of the World - View from the Stand"