At the beginning of our careers, few of us imagined that the day would come when it would be possible to vaccinate against cancer. There is now a vaccine that prevents the risk of developing six types of cancer caused by the human papillomavirus, but its adoption is slow and surprisingly low. says Electra Paskett, professor of cancer research, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University
By: Electra Peskett, Professor of Cancer Research, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University
At the beginning of our careers, few of us imagined that the day would come when it would be possible to vaccinate against cancer. There is now a vaccine that prevents the risk of developing six types of cancer caused by the human papillomavirus, but its adoption is slow and surprisingly low.
Although the vaccine has been available for more than a decade, in 2014 only 40 percent of girls received three full doses of the vaccine, while only 22 percent of boys received all three. That is, much lower than the vaccination rates of 87% percent for the vaccines that prevent tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis.
Some of the reasons are related to misinformation about the vaccine and why it is given to children when the virus is sexually transmitted. In almost all cases the parents do not take their children because they think they should not get the vaccine until they are sexually active. Some believe that the very vaccine will encourage early sexual behavior. Three different doses at three separate doctor visits also burdens many working parents. And, of course, there are those who believe that vaccines are not good for children.
Now, a two-dose vaccine has been approved for children under the age of 15, and this is an opportunity to reexamine the dialogue with doctors and parents and to refresh efforts to expand the vaccination rate against HPV. If the move is successful, we can save the lives of tens of thousands of Americans who die from these types of cancer every year.
A common virus with a rare risk
Oncologists and cancer control researchers, including my colleagues at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, regard HPV as the leading cause of cervical cancer, rectal cancer, vaginal cancer, penile cancer, hypopharyngeal cancer, and head and neck cancer. In fact, ongoing research is revealing how HPV damages the genes in our cells and causes cancerous mutations.
The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracks the trends in HPV infections and the numbers are disturbing: 79 million Americans are currently carriers of at least one type of HPV and there are approximately 14 million new infections each year. Most infections are benign, and in nine cases out of ten they disappear within a few years. In contrast, some strains have been directly linked to cancer, killing more than 30,000 Americans each year.
The HPV virus is almost universally transmitted through sexual activity, but it can also be transmitted through kissing. For the vaccine to be most effective, immunity must develop well before exposure, so it is important that young people receive the vaccine.
The full vaccination schedule should be completed at a young age, long before the boy or girl becomes sexually active. Clinical trials have shown that when properly administered, the HPV vaccine provides close to 100 percent protection against precancerous growths of the cervix and genital warts, and in the last decade there has been a 64 percent decrease in infections in vaccine targets.
Almost immediately after the first HPV vaccine, Gardasil, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the summer of 2006, a wave of public opposition began. This is due to erroneous and dangerous assumptions that were already common at that time about vaccines and an ongoing political debate in which the recommended vaccination age (starting at age nine) was confused with the period when young people are sexually active - that is, much later.
Despite these challenges, the widespread publicity of the vaccine helped health care providers raise awareness, and vaccination rates increased.
The current vaccine, 9 Gardasil requires three injections for young people aged 15 to 26 at least six months apart between each injection. However, the CDC recently recommended that two doses of the vaccine are effective enough for adolescents aged 9-14 at least one year apart. This is easier for the health care providers and also for the parents who will not have to lose work hours to bring the child to the clinic.
The vaccine has saved many lives so far. Recently, the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) - which brings together 69 leading cancer centers in the world for research and treatment, published a call to adopt the universal vaccine.
All cancer is bad, but many types of cancer caused by HPV are deadly and unnecessary.
10 תגובות
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HozmRoF57aw
Yael
In your opinion, the reason for resistance to the vaccine (fear of risks) is wrong?
The article you linked to does not describe that there is a real danger in the vaccine (you really should read it).
So why do you claim that someone is hiding the truth???
Nissim, you are already the third person here in the comments who has trouble understanding what I write. See my responses to Abby and Erez
Yael
Did you read the article you linked to? There is nothing there that convinces, even a little, that there is a danger in the vaccine. Don't you think it's worth preferring the opinion of experts over a newspaper article?
Have you already forgotten what a mess there was in Israel when a mob of idiots and charlatans claimed that there was danger in the polio vaccine?
Dear Avi Blizovsky,
It seems to me that you, like Erez Gerti, did not agree with my opinion either. I am not currently dealing with the question of whether the vaccine is safe or not, what the studies say about it, etc.
I am talking about the reason why the vaccine has such great public opposition. The author of the article you translated here is trying to throw sand in the eyes of the public by literally hiding important information from the readers, that the resistance to the vaccine stems mainly from the side effects that are reported to it all over the world.
This is really a deception and a site like yours should not give in to this kind of deception.
As an example, see a news report from just now that in Japan a group of vaccine victims is suing the authorities and the vaccine manufacturers for the damages caused to them:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/02/13/national/crime-legal/suit-opens-tokyo-court-cervical-cancer-vaccine-side-effects/#.WKYPa29961v
As you can see, the news was published in the Japan-Times, which is not exactly an insignificant site...
It is better for the science website to translate scientific articles and not vaccine propaganda articles.
I heard that there were two misleading articles in Israel that caused most of the damage, one from Mako and the other from YNET
This is exactly what Erez wrote "it was not observed in morbidity or mortality rates in relation to the general population"
Dear Dr. Erez Gerti,
What you wrote is very interesting, and I have something to say about it, but even before that, I'm afraid you didn't really answer the issue I raised.
I will try to explain.
Well, what stood out to me in this article is the author's attempt to pretend that the resistance to the papilloma vaccine originates only from the parents' conservatism, the early age of intercourse, etc.
It seems that the author is trying in a sophisticated way to hide from the readers the real reason for the opposition to the vaccine which resulted in the vaccine causing waves of opposition in every country it entered: the severe reactions experienced by many girls after the vaccination.
The videos I brought demonstrate what I wrote: the vaccine is controversial. This will be evidenced by hundreds and perhaps thousands of online video testimonies of girls who were affected, documentary programs in the various countries, and articles in the media.
How do you explain the author's ignoring of all the noise surrounding the side effects of the vaccine? Aren't you also exposed to stories and testimonies in the media?
Hello Yael
YouTube videos are nice, but I prefer studies with actual data:
Let's start with its effectiveness - there are quite a few studies that demonstrate effectiveness, I would like to point out a new study that examines the result test and shows a significant decrease in the percentage of infection with the virus, in a few years we will probably also see a decrease in morbidity (it is a slow and malicious disease so we will have to be patient). If you want more I will give you more studies
http://bit.ly/2cy8HQk
Regarding safety, we wrote a review about it on the Davidson Institute website, here it is for you
http://bit.ly/2cm4Sxd
The vaccine was given to thousands of girls (millions) all over the world and no morbidity or mortality rates were observed in relation to the general population. Beyond the fact that it is one of the safest vaccines available, it does not contain live components but rather proteins of the virus's envelope.
All the best and lots of health
cedar
It is very sad to read this article because it is all a hypocritical deception of the real reason why so many parents do not vaccinate with this vaccine, which is the enormous damage it causes to those who are vaccinated.
This paragraph in particular:
"Almost immediately after the first HPV vaccine, Gardasil, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the summer of 2006, a wave of public opposition began. This is due to erroneous and dangerous assumptions that were already common at that time about vaccines and in an ongoing political debate in which the recommended age of vaccination (starting at age nine) was confused with the period when young people are sexually active - that is, much later" is a mind craft of fraud and spin that tries to create a false representation as if The public debate about the vaccine focused on issues of "conservatism".
The truth is that from the very beginning this vaccine destroyed the lives of (and killed) many girls, and also young women.
Here are some videos that demonstrate why this vaccine has become controversial and the nightmare of thousands of families around the world.
Documentary program from Denmark about the girls affected by the vaccine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10JU1eMSGIQ
A similar program from Ireland:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx-wyB_C2Rw
(There are many more such programs from the USA, Canada, Germany, Japan, and more).
Dr. Diana Flesher, an expert on women's health, tells how this vaccine was approved in Israel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uarcPhuHHs
Boys also began to be affected by this vaccine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t26w9TU9So
Shame on the science site for posting such a hypocritical and misleading article.