Rebuttal Paper

HPV Vaccine: To Mandate or Not

Gabrielle A. Blythers

BCOM/275

March 11, 2013
Mike Cattermole

Should the HPV Vaccine be mandatory?

Although vaccinations have been around for 200 plus years, today in 2013 it is still a most controversial issue. Vaccine by definition is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins, or one of its surface proteins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine). The National Institute of Health says “in other words, vaccines trick your immune system to teach your body important lessons about how to defeat its opponents.” As effective as some may say vaccines are there has been a significant decrease in people actively getting vaccinations yearly. In this paper I am discussing an article titled “Government should mandate the HPV vaccine.” The author Amanda Marcotte believes that the reason people and in particular parents do not want this vaccine mandated is that they are misinformed. She calls these people “right wing” and claim they have provided wrong and misleading information to liberals. (Marcotte, 2011) Without providing any supporting evidence she claims that this vaccine is as safe and effective as every other vaccine on the market. Although I am not completely against vaccines; eight or nine year old young children should not be forced to have the HPV vaccine. Vaccines are for diseases that could cause major outbreaks in mass proportions and become widespread, dangerous, and murderous to a mass collection of people. HPV is a disease that is easily prevented by proper education, guidance, and direction from the parent to the child. The known side effects that are associated with this vaccine outweigh the positives for receiving it. The author states in her article that HPV is “widespread, nearly inevitable if you 're not vaccinated, and has the potential to create medical problems or even kill you (Morcette, 2011, para.3 ). In actuality, only about one in two (50%) people get some type of strand of HPV and even fewer die from it. The HPV vaccine has yet to prove after more than six years on the market that it prevents any types of cancer.
Dr. Mercola researched a survey by a Dr. Stokvis that showed that the amount of abnormal pap smears, abnormal dysplasia, and abnormal cancers increased from the years 2011 to present, four/five years after the vaccines were given. This offers valid support to previous suspicions that the vaccine actually may increase the risk of getting cancers. (Mercola, 2012) Also As reported by menstruationresearch.org in June:

"In January 2012, the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology published the ATHENA HPV study announcing the results of a large cervical cancer screening trial, enrolling 47,208 women 21 years of age or older at 61 clinical sites throughout the United States. The authors reported that in a sub group of 12,852 young women, the HPV vaccine reduced HPV-16 infections only 0.6% in vaccinated women vs. unvaccinated women.

Most disturbing are the data that showed other high-risk HPV infections were diagnosed in vaccinated women 2.6% to 6.2% more frequently than unvaccinated women. In fact, the study reported that the increased rate of infections by carcinogenic HPV types in vaccinated women (other than those targeted by Gardasil®) is four to 10 times higher than the reduction in HPV 16/18 infections." The uncertainties of positive and negative information on the vaccine is why I think parents’ are skeptical on making it a requirement for their children.

To conclude, I would not want my child to receive a mandated vaccine. I think that some things should be left to the parents and that ultimately we should have the last say. I am not uneducated or misinformed to the matter of the pros and cons of the vaccine, I just think the bad outweigh the good. This particular vaccine is not for a virus that would cause world destruction if the majority of the world had it therefore, I think it’s a decision I can ultimately leave up to my young teen when we are ready to sit and have that talk.

References • Plotkin S, Orenstein W, Offit P. Vaccines, 5th ed. Saunders, 2008 • (2008, September Day). What is a vaccine?. National Institute of Health. Retrieved from http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/vaccines/understanding/pages/whatvaccine.aspx/Pages/Default.aspx • Marcotte, A. (2011, September 21). Government should mandate HPV vaccine. XX Factor. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2011/09/21/mandates_are_the_only_real_way_to_address_irrational_fears_of_th.html • Mercola, J. (2012). New Evidence Demolishes Claims of safety and effectiveness of HPV vaccine. Retrieved from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/10/16/unproven-hpv-vaccine-safety.aspx •

References: • Plotkin S, Orenstein W, Offit P. Vaccines, 5th ed. Saunders, 2008 • (2008, September Day). What is a vaccine?. National Institute of Health. Retrieved from http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/vaccines/understanding/pages/whatvaccine.aspx/Pages/Default.aspx • Marcotte, A. (2011, September 21). Government should mandate HPV vaccine. XX Factor. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2011/09/21/mandates_are_the_only_real_way_to_address_irrational_fears_of_th.html • Mercola, J. (2012). New Evidence Demolishes Claims of safety and effectiveness of HPV vaccine. Retrieved from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/10/16/unproven-hpv-vaccine-safety.aspx •