Stewart Schatz

Ok, Deanne and I have been accused of being a little over-protective at times, but I think that in this case we were being diligent parents.

It started last year when Kaeley (13 at the time) brought home a permission slip that talked about all the immunizations that were required and all we had to do was sign and she would get the one that she needed, Gardasil.  The letter explained that the North Dakota State Government was providing these vaccinations free of charge for eligible females 9-26 years old.  Then, conveniently attached to the back was an information sheet about the great things this new vaccine was going to do for her.  It would protect her from contracting the sexually transmitted disease, Genital Human Papillomavirus (HPV).  This virus has been linked to causing cervical cancer.  Below is from the Gardasil web site:

GARDASIL does more than help prevent cervical cancer. GARDASIL is the only cervical cancer vaccine that helps protect against 4 types of human papillomavirus (HPV): 2 types that cause 70% of cervical cancer cases, and 2 more types that cause 90% of genital warts cases.

Now, I totally understand wanting to “protect your child”.  However, both Deanne and I decided that it really didn’t make sense.  This virus isn’t transmitted through the air like chicken pox.  It is only transmitted through sexual contact.  Also, it is supposed to be able to be administered until she is 26.  That means that after she is old enough to make her own decisions about what goes into her body and there are a number of years of successful studies of the vaccine she can get it if she wants.  So, we decided against this particular vaccine.

Now, fast forward to today and there are headlines reading “Should parents worry about HPV vaccine?“,  “HPV Vaccine Linked To Teen’s Paralysis?” and “Two Women Die After Receiving Cervical Cancer Vaccine“.

We think we made the right choice.

By the way, I’m glad I’m not Texas Governor Rick Perry.  He tried to make the vaccine mandatory.