8 More Deaths Caused by Gardasil Bringing Total Number To 11

[Ben Kenobi]

I've been asked a few times.

My position is that it should be available to those who request the shot. It shouldn't be mandatory at all.

It only inoculates at best 15 percent of the total HPV strains, as it targets 4 of them in particular. People can still very easily get HPV even after the shots.

By making mandatory shots, we are promising immunity. Most kids think they are immortal and they will live forever, so it's giving them a false sense of security.

[Wezil]

I was wondering if you would have a moral issue with it. Like you I avoid that problem altogether by making it optional.

The Catholic School Boards in this province had a real issue as it was offered free (optional if you wished to participate) but was actually administered at the schools through the health units. I believe there were one or two boards that wouldn't allow it. The girls that wanted the vac in these cases had to go to the health unit.

[Ben Kenobi]

I was wondering if you would have a moral issue with it. Like you I avoid that problem altogether by making it optional.

Morally my concern is that people aren't aware of either the complications or the effectiveness of the shot, but that falls under informed consent.

The Catholic School Boards in this province had a real issue as it was offered free (optional if you wished to participate) but was actually administered at the schools through the health units. I believe there were one or two boards that wouldn't allow it. The girls that wanted the vac in these cases had to go to the health unit.

I would support that position, as the girls that want the shot could still go and get the shot. Many would see the school board accepting the offer as a tacit endorsement, and put pressure on the families who do not want the shot.

Really, I would much prefer if the shot did as was claimed, then I could see an argument for making it mandatory, just like all the other ones. At this time however, that is not the case, and until then it should be optional.

[Gibsie]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
It only inoculates at best 15 percent of the total HPV strains, as it targets 4 of them in particular. People can still very easily get HPV even after the shots.

Although to be fair you should probably mention that the mere 15% of strains it protects against are the most common (Causing 70% of all cervical cancer cases).

[Kuciwalker]

It only inoculates at best 15 percent of the total HPV strains, as it targets 4 of them in particular. People can still very easily get HPV even after the shots.

What Gibsie said. Lies, damn lies, and statistics - what you just said is blatantly misleading.

[Kuciwalker]

Mandatory vaccinations are good public policy. Making them optional creates a free-rider problem.

[Ben Kenobi]

Although to be fair you should probably mention that the mere 15% of strains it protects against are the most common (Causing 70% of all cervical cancer cases).

70 percent of cervical cancer cases caused by HPV are believed to originate from these strains. This is a far cry from saying 70 percent of all cervical cancer will be prevented. There are other ways to get cervical cancer then through HPV.

Public officials are still warning people that they must continue to get pap smears even after the injection.

There is nothing that I've said that isn't true, the CDC even says that the shot only prevents up to 15 percent of the HPV strains.

[Wezil]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Mandatory vaccinations are good public policy. Making them optional creates a free-rider problem.

This is not quite the same though. Correct me if I'm wrong but the disease we are protecting against here can only be acquired sexually...?

[Ben Kenobi]

Mandatory vaccinations are good public policy. Making them optional creates a free-rider problem.

MMR and DPT have around 90+ rates of effectiveness. Far cry from the 15 percent here from HPV. Kids are still gonna get sick with HPV after the shot, in the best of circumstances. What are we going to say to them?

To have a free rider problem, you actually have to prevent the disease in the first place.

It shouldn't be mandatory until the effectiveness rates go up. I don't see how you can force people to take a shot that isn't going to cure them of HPV or protect them from the disease.

[Aeson]

Vaccinations target specific strains. They don't prevent everything else. So what?

Either it's safe and effective at preventing the strains it's meant to target or it's not. That's all that should matter. Otherwise you might as well say we shouldn't administer polio vaccinations because it doesn't prevent HIV.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Wezil
This is not quite the same though. Correct me if I'm wrong but the disease we are protecting against here can only be acquired sexually...?

How is that relevant?

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Aeson
Vaccinations target specific strains. They don't prevent everything else. So what?

Either it's safe and effective at preventing the strains it's meant to target or it's not. That's all that should matter. Otherwise you might as well say we shouldn't administer polio vaccinations because it doesn't prevent HIV.

You have progressive views for a Mormon

[Ben Kenobi]

Vaccinations target specific strains. They don't prevent everything else. So what?

The vaccinations which are mandatory, DPT, MMR they do prevent all the strains of the disease they are talking about. You get a measles shot you aren't going to get sick with measles later on. Same with whooping cough.

Other shots, like the flu shot, they are not mandatory, and they target certain strains. You can get sick with a different strain of influenza.

This is why we should treat the HPV shot like the flu shot. It should be available to anyone who wants it but it should not be mandatory. The shot will not inoculate you from HPV

Either it's safe and effective at preventing the strains it's meant to target or it's not. That's all that should matter. Otherwise you might as well say we shouldn't administer polio vaccinations because it doesn't prevent HIV.

Oh, let's get it straight here. I think people should be able to get the shot. I oppose making it mandatory because it does not prevent people from catching HPV.

[Aeson]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
You have progressive views for a Mormon

So do you. At least in some regards.

[Kuciwalker]

The vaccinations which are mandatory, DPT, MMR they do prevent all the strains of the disease they are talking about. You get a measles shot you aren't going to get sick with measles later on. Same with whooping cough.

Other shots, like the flu shot, they are not mandatory, and they target certain strains. You can get sick with a different strain of influenza.

This is why we should treat the HPV shot like the flu shot. It should be available to anyone who wants it but it should not be mandatory. The shot will not inoculate you from HPV

That's not why one is mandatory and another isn't, Ben.