West Palm Beach, Florida (JusticeNewsFlash.com – Health Report) – The approved Gardasil vaccine prevents the spread of human papillomavirus, known as HPV (a sexually transmitted virus that can cause cervical cancer in women.) With strong slogans such as “Be one less victim” and the strong push from doctors and medical companies, Gardasil has become extremely popular in the past few years. The vaccine’s manufacturer, Merck & Co. Inc., says it has distributed more than 26 million Gardasil vaccines worldwide, including nearly 16 million in the United States. Merck estimates that 8 million girls and women have received the vaccine in the United States, yet these amounts are quite shocking since the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) only approved Gardasil in June of 2006.
The vaccine has been proven to be between 90-100% effective in preventing the transmission of some, but not all, strains of the Human Papillomavirus that cause cervical cancer. Within months, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) had issued a recommendation that all girls between the ages of 11 and 12 receive the Gardasil vaccine. Proposals to mandate the vaccine for girls in middle schools across America have begun in 24 states, Texas being one of the first.
Yet, there are many who oppose this vaccine. Many argue that Gardasil’s marketing campaign created an unnecessary panic about a type of cancer that is preventable through regular gynecologist check-ups and Pap smears. Cervical cancer has not been a major killer in western countries for decades. Critics state that the manufacturers of Gardasil had pushed it too quickly, therefore overlooking serious questions about the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness. Gardasil was only studied in clinical trials for five years, with results that showed a decreased immunity after three to five years. (Meaning that a girl at age 11, who gets the shots, could possibly not even be protected by her first year of college. Young girls, who have had the vaccine, have complained of serious side effects. Judicial Watch (a Washington, D.C.-based public interest group) found that there has been 9,749 adverse reactions following Gardasil and 21 reported deaths since 2006. ‘Those side effects, which were reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) included 10 miscarriages, 78 severe outbreaks of genital warts and six cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that can result in paralysis.’
These grave effects are the result of what happens when a product is rushed on the market. It is sad that so many young girls are experiencing these outcomes and there may be more added to them when around 12 state legislatures are considering mandating this shot for preteen girls before they begin school.
Conclusion: This vaccine should have been tested longer before ordered onto our young, developing females. There are other, more natural ways to avoid HPV and cervical cancer and we should be encouraging these methods, not uncertain vaccines.
