The following presents a discussion of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and related issues. The debate presents views for and against HPV. A notation about personal views of whether a child should be vaccinated follows this. Next, a summary of findings with conclusions is presented.
Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a virus that causes most cases of cervical cancer and genital warts (National Conference of State Legislatures [NCSL], 2007), making cervical cancer a possibly behavior driven disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HPV affects 20 million people in the U.S. and 6.2 million new cases are found per year (NCSL, 2007). Cervical cancer in the U.S. affects up to 10,000 women each year and 3,700 women die from this disease. Currently there is no treatment for HPV and HPV is the only vaccine that has been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Thus, there is a related issue as to whether the HPV should become federally mandated (NCSL, 2007).
There are pros and cons to this vaccine. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends that the vaccine be administered to young girls between the ages of 11 and 12 years in order to prevent cervical cancer and State legislatures are reviewing these considerations and determining requirements related to school vaccination (NCSL, 2007). However, despite the CDC recommendations for this vaccination, the HPV vaccine mandates are being rejected by lawmakers (Benson, 2007) since there is a lack of evidence regarding side effects and safety of this vaccine, which results in a lack of support from scientists. For example, studies show that in some cases, Gullian-Barre syndrome was found in young girls who received the HPV vaccine along with the meningitis vaccine (Fisher, 2007).
Personally, I am against having my child vaccinated by federal mandate. While the vaccine may guard against some strains of HPV and c...