HPV Vaccine Update - Even Lead Research Developer Questions Mandated Use
More insight into the story behind the HPV vaccine:
A lead researcher who spent 20 years developing the vaccine for humanpapilloma virus says the HPV vaccine is not for younger girls, and that it is “silly” for states to be mandating it for them.
Not only that, she says it’s not been tested for effectiveness in younger girls, and administering the vaccine to girls as young as 9 may not even protect them at all. And, in the worst-case scenario, instead of serving to reduce the numbers of cervical cancers within 25 years, such a vaccination crusade actually could cause the numbers to go up.
“Giving it to 11-year-olds is a great big public health experiment,” said Diane M. Harper, who is a scientist, physician, professor and the director of the Gynecologic Cancer Prevention Research Group at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire.
“It is silly to mandate vaccination of 11- to 12-year-old girls There also is not enough evidence gathered on side effects to know that safety is not an issue.”
Internationally recognized as a pioneer in the field, Harper has been studying HPV and a possible vaccine for several of the more than 100 strains of HPV for 20 years - most of her adult life.
Harper goes on to note that all of her tests have been with women ages 15 to 25. Her recommended approach would be test women ages 18 and up for the presence of HPV and then provide the vaccine to those for whom the test result is negative.
For those who test positive for HPV?
“Then we don’t know squat, because medically we don’t know how to respond to that,” Harper said.
The rest of the story
Check out the end of the article for a succinct and useful set of facts about the vaccine.
For months Harper has been trying to get the word out and convince media outlets to report the entire story, but no one would do so. Not too surprising.
Good thing she didn’t give up trying:
“I want to be able to sleep with myself when I go to bed at night,” Harper said. “My concern is still, let’s get women’s health better. It is still a good vaccine. But let’s be honest. Don’t over-promise.”
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