vaccine knocks out virus that causes most cervical cancer

[movie zombie]

"Those of us who keep up with dispatches from the war against cancer know that 2006 should be an encouraging year. When researchers announced recently a vaccine has been found that knocks out the virus that causes most cervical cancer, it was the sort of news that should have been greeted with hallelujahs all around. But it turns out that even a cure for cancer has managed to run afoul of the morality police who have increasing influence on public policy."

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/13492497.htm


sad.


peace, movie zombie

 

[FireGoddess]

Don't even get me started.

I think the HPV vaccine effort is AWESOME....who WOULDN'T want to prevent getting an STD that's with you for life, and is undeniably linked to cervical cancer????

I saw a documentary about these IDIOTS who taught classes in the bible belt of the USA...who preached abstinence (fine if that is your prerogative) but over and over preached that condoms don't work and they are sure to break, etc, etc.

When the kids were exit-interviewed after the class and asked about what lesson they learned, what did they say? They said, "Well, I'm going to have sex if I want to, but now I know that condoms don't work, so why bother using one?"

Can you BELIEVE that? Educators have a RESPONSIBILITY to teach kids how to protect themselves. I don't give a rat's @SS what your moral beliefs are...kids will make their own choices whether you like it or not...but at least give them the tools to help themselves!!! UGH!

 

[njc]

I''m totally with you FireGoddess. Fine, share your thoughts/beliefs, but give kids the proper tools to make their own EDUCATED decision.

Thats so sad that kids were walking out of the class saying they just wont use a condom. I wonder how the parents feel and if they take any initiative?

 

[ame]

Shares TMI--

I have HPV and have had several "procedures" to remove cancerous cells over the last 5 years. I have not had any new cells crop up for just over a year. I have followed the news on this because it means a lot to me personally. I am constantly going in for new testing and checkups to be sure I don't have any further issues, and for now, I might have "beat it", and that is a relief on my psyche, and kind of my wallet too.

To have what could potentially eliminate any future outbreaks of cells possibly shot down and destroyed by my "worst enemy", the religious right, just absolutely enrages me. It just boggles my mind that anyone's "moral fiber" should have ANYTHING to do with my health and what could help me. GOD DID NOT GIVE ME THIS VIRUS. GOD CAN NOT SAVE ME. Only medical science can save me.

Why should any delusional half-wit have any say in my country's government, how it's run and decisions on ANYTHING political, medical or otherwise?

 

[coda72]

I, like Ame, also have HPV. I have had multiple treatments also to have pre-cancerous cells removed. I personally think all girls should be given this vaccine at birth, never mind what the religious people say. If the rest of the girls born from now on can avoid what I''ve been going through, that would be a great thing. Now I just wish they would come out with a vaccine that would work for those of us already infected with this virus.

 

[movie zombie]

i wasn''t aware of this vaccine.

what concerns me is that there are so many scenarios in which this can reach up and bite one in the ass later on. for instance, a good friend of mine in high school who belonged to an evangelical church ended up marrying a man who had fathered a child out of wedlock in his younger years but was now ''saved''. could he be a contributor to the cervical health problems she experiences now? yes, he was ''saved'' and now of of ''good upstanding moral character'' but he has a past that he can pass on.

it is also my understanding that jane fonda is now a born again christian.....but with a difference: she is working with teenagers in the south re these very issues: http://www.gcapp.org/ this group certainly advocates condoms.

is it a family value to play dice with young women''s lives?

unfortunately, this vaccine is held hostage by personal beliefs that spill over into public health issues that effect us all......these people are playing politics with our health.


peace, movie zombie

 

[monarch64]

Having come from the "Bible Belt" myself, I can tell you that yep, most of those bible beaters are a bunch of ninnies. It is very unfortunate that some of their views are taken seriously at all. My sister-in-law has been dealing with HPV for about 10 years now, she got the virus from her first boyfriend (they started dating when she was 14, and the only other person she dated was my brother), and I know several other women who have been through a lot of heartache over this virus. For any group, religious, or political, to try to stand in the way of a vaccine against a cancer-causing virus is totally bogus and to me, very UN-Christian like behavior! Whatever happened to "hate the sin, love the sinner?" Not that contracting HPV is a sin--what about people who contract the herpes virus from kissing another person with a cold sore? AARRRGGHHH, can''t stand ignorant people.

So what will happen to this vaccine? Will it eventually make it through the freakin'' red tape and be used? I know if I ever have daughters I''m going to do my best to get it for them--I would like to have grandchildren someday, and I am just thinking worst case scenario-wise: what if my only child was a girl, contracted HPV, ended up with cervical cancer and either died, or was unable to bear children because of complications due to having surgeries, etc? This whole thing just makes me sick.

 

[larussel03]

This vaccine is such a great breakthough...I read that up to 70% of college women have the sexually transmissible HPV strain, and I think it should be given to women before entering college (or even before), along with all the other necessary vaccines.

 

[movie zombie]

perhaps each of us should be contacting our elected officials in Congress and asking them to apply pressure.....? i personally will do so. those of you with personal history with the disease would be very effective in a ''campaign'' to ensure the health of young women.

peace, movie zombie

 

[HOUMedGal]

Yep, me too. I had my first ASCUS (atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance) Pap smear a little over a year ago, and the follow-up Pap to that one was HPV positive (and one of the high-risk, cancer associated strains). Thankfully, when I had a colposcopy, I didn't need any biopsies, and I've just had my 3rd normal pap since my abnormal ones, so hopefully I'm one of the lucky ones whose body fights off the virus before precancerous changes occur.

I'm thrilled that this vaccine is up and coming. I think it's absolutely ridiculous (and very sad) that some people would discourage the use of this vaccine because it may encourage kids to have sex. I don't agree that it encourages sex anyway...it's a vaccine, for goodness sake, not a "go have sex free" pass. If kids want to have sex, they're going to, regardless of what we as parents or doctors or friends say. The best thing that we can do for them is to give them all the opportunities we can to make the sex safe, including education, condoms, the Pill, etc., and this vaccine.

This brings up another important issue: Ladies, get those Pap smears!!! Cervical cancer is one of, if not the, most treatable cancers we have, and that's all because of early detection with the Pap smear. I went in a couple weeks ago for my last one, and while I was there, my doc mentioned that it's really quite rare these days that they see full blown late stage cervical cancer...he said the last lady he diagnosed with late stage cancer hadn't had a Pap smear since the 1970's and came to see him because of post-menopausal bleeding.

(edited because I accidentally omitted a very key word, hehe)

 

[saturn]

I''ve been following this story for a while.

Fortunately, U.S. vaccine policy generally isn''t made by congressmen. So hopefully the HPV vaccine will be approved, and administered to girls before puberty. I personally think they should give it to the boys, too - where do they think that women get the virus from?

The nice thing about the US vaccine system is that it really doesn''t have that much red tape - if the vaccine is recommended for universal use by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, then it automatically goes into use and is funded by the Vaccines for Children program. That doesn''t mean that things can''t possibly go awry (like the FDA morning-after pill debacle), but at least it doesn''t take a special act of Congress to move things forward.

 

[mrssalvo]

I hope they are able to get this through the FDA asap. I have friends who have had abnormal papsmears and if there is a way to protect women on the front end it should be welcomed with open arms from everyone. I wouldn''t be surprised if many of our congressman''s wives or daughters will have an abormal result an some point in time and they would want to do anything in their power to prevent a cancer causing virus.

 

[princessv]

Being from the heart of the Bible Belt itself I went through school being preached abstinence, abstinence abstinence. Then they teach you about all these scary STDs..''the only way to protect yourself is through abstinence.'' How ridiculous. I mean honestly I got nothing out of those classes. My best friend has HPV she didn''t even know she had it until a year later. Luckily, its not a cancerous strain. I seriously hope that the vaccine gets approved.

 

[Evie75]

I know this is pretty old but i have a question. If you have cells removed or have them removed a lot does that effect your ability to have children?

 

[AmantdeChat]

Latest news:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/15/news/economy/merck/index.htm?cnn=yes


Fingers crossed that the FDA will approve it.

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 5/16/2006 2:31:22 PM
Author: AmantdeChat
Latest news:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/15/news/economy/merck/index.htm?cnn=yes


Fingers crossed that the FDA will approve it.

All my fingers and all my toes. Have you seen the commercials on TV now that have women saying ''Did you know cervical cancer was caused by a virus?'' I was slightly shocked by the commercials only because I know that despite overwhelming scientific evidence, the most for really any link between a virus and a cancer, scientists were never okay definitively saying that HPV was a causative agent for cervical cancer. They would only claim ''close association.'' I was glad to see the commercials and I truly hope that people''s religious beliefs do not impede scientific progress. I mean, what, should we still be draining bad blood humors from people to cure them?

 

[appletini]

Date: 5/2/2006 10:59:11 AM
Author: Evie75
I know this is pretty old but i have a question. If you have cells removed or have them removed a lot does that effect your ability to have children?

My doctor told me that she only recommends having them removed once. She said that they try not to be overly agressive in younger women that haven''t had children.

 

[tawn]

Date: 5/16/2006 2:45:45 PM
Author: FireGoddess

Date: 5/16/2006 2:31:22 PM
Author: AmantdeChat
Latest news:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/15/news/economy/merck/index.htm?cnn=yes


Fingers crossed that the FDA will approve it.

All my fingers and all my toes. Have you seen the commercials on TV now that have women saying ''Did you know cervical cancer was caused by a virus?'' I was slightly shocked by the commercials only because I know that despite overwhelming scientific evidence, the most for really any link between a virus and a cancer, scientists were never okay definitively saying that HPV was a causative agent for cervical cancer. They would only claim ''close association.'' I was glad to see the commercials and I truly hope that people''s religious beliefs do not impede scientific progress. I mean, what, should we still be draining bad blood humors from people to cure them?

I was a responsible teenager, and went to get on the pill when I was 17...and still a virgin. They did a pap and my cells came back abnormal...and how could I have HPV before I was even sexually active? My Dr. said the causes for cervical dysplasia/cancer can be HPV, early sexual activity, multiple partners...etc, and I questioned that I didn''t fit into any of those categories, and he told me that nuns get it and sometimes there is just no explanation. So, preaching abstinanse obviously isn''t going to prevent it!

A vaccine would be wonderful! How could anyone be against something that helps peope?

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 5/16/2006 2:31:22 PM
Author: AmantdeChat
Latest news:


http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/15/news/economy/merck/index.htm?cnn=yes



Fingers crossed that the FDA will approve it.

I hope so. it''s nice to see not all conservative religous groups are against it and Focus on the Family is supporting the potential life-saving vaccine. I would think others will follow the example and it will pass. This would be wonderful for our daughters.

 

[HOUMedGal]

FYI: Vaccine was FDA approved today!

 

[laine]

I am really glad to hear this! Any guess as to whether insurance companies will cover it? Merck''s website quotes the price as $120, which I''m willing to pay, though I''d much prefer it if my insurance paid.

 

[Allisonfaye]

My stepmother died of cervical cancer at 45. I just can''t even fathom the idiots NOT wanting young girls to get this shot.

 

[Gypsy]

You know... there just aren''t words... at least not ones that are fit for public consumption.

 

[katebar]

Here in Australia where the vaccine was developed the government is considering vaccinating all grade 7 girls as part of the immunisation program. As yet there does not seem to be in any backlash from the moral minority but maybe that will come.
Interestingly Professor Ian Frazer who developeed the vaccine at University of Queenlsand (where i live) was voted Australian of the year and his breakthrough is seen here at absolutely monumental and Nobel Prize winning worthy and I concur 100%