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Gardasil vaccine offers help against cervical cancerA major breakthrough in the prevention of cervical cancer was announced earlier this year with the introduction of the vaccine Gardasil. “This is only the second vaccine developed to prevent cancer. That’s what it was specifically designed to do” said Marc Burkhart, MD, an OB/GYN physician at the New Ulm Medical Center. The vaccine became available to medical center patients August 1. The national Centers for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee gave their approval to the vaccine in June by recommending it be routinely given to girls when they are 11-12 years old. It can be given to females anywhere between 9 and 26 years old. The vaccine helps protect against cervical cancer by fighting Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a virus that can produce genital warts which may then develop into cancer. There are 20 different high risk strains of HPV, explained Burkhart. Gardasil protects women against four of the highest risk types and by preventing those four types, it will prevent 90% of warts from developing. Two of the types alone are found to cause 70% of cervical cancers. According to the CDC, there are almost 10,000 new cases of cervical cancer in the United States every year and 3,700 deaths from this type of cancer. There has been some controversy over the vaccine. Opponents argue that because it protects women from contracting HPV, a sexually transmitted disease, receiving the vaccine may promote promiscuity in young women. “Parents should not look at it as a sex vaccine; it’s an anti-cancer vaccine,” said Cliff Wu, MD, a pediatrician at New Ulm Medical Center. “The maximum effectiveness for the vaccine is before the onset of sexual activity, because once you’re infected, there’s nothing you can do.” There are only two ways to try to prevent contracting these types of HPV, said Wu, to get the vaccine, or to not have intercourse … ever. “If you someday expect your daughter to have children of her own, therefore to be sexually active, then it’s reasonable to want to give her this kind of protection,” Wu said. “Think of it as an insurance policy.” Although the target age for the vaccine is 11-12 years old, Wu said, that doesn’t mean it is promoting sexual activity at that age or in the teenage years. In fact, in his pediatric practice, Wu talks to teens about abstaining from sex. “Unfortunately, we live in a world where there is a lot of pressure to have sex earlier,” Wu said. “Sixty percent of all teenagers will have had sex before they graduate from high school. But, what we try to point out to them is that 40 percent of them have not had sex.” This drug will also protect young women from contracting HPV through circumstances beyond their control, such as rape or date rape, said Wu. Although the vaccine won’t prevent all cases of cervical cancer, said Wu, “We can knock off two out of three cases.” “We will begin talking to patients about this when they come in for annual exams and for well-child visits,” Burkhart said. “It is highly recommended. It’s one of the few ways to prevent cancer with a vaccine.” The vaccine is a shot just like any other vaccine, Burkhart said. The only side effects are soreness and redness at the site of the shot and a few people may develop a fever. It can be given in conjunction with other vaccines. It is a series of three shots, repeated two and six months after the initial shot.  Back to Health Edition |
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New Ulm Medical Center
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