Drug News
HPV vaccine: What doctors do not tell you
By Ben Wasserman
May 8, 2008 - 1:59:54 PM

1) The trials of HPV vaccine did not include a large enough number of girls age 11 and 12 for whom the vaccine is recommended.   Because of this, the trial results including efficacy and safety may not be applicable to the age group of girls.

2) The HPV vaccine was tested against pre-cancerous lesions, which potentially lead to cervical cancer, but not cervical cancer.   This means that how effective this HPV vaccine would be remains questionable.   The trial results offered no direct evidence to prove the vaccine is effective in preventing cervical cancer.

3) The HPV vaccine obtained FDA approval early in 2006.   By October, 2007, the US government had received 3,461 reports of side and adverse effects including 11 cases in which women died after receiving the HPV vaccine.

4) The trials were conducted for a short term only.   Thus long-term efficacy and safety remain unknown.   No one knows if a booster is needed after 5, 10, or 20 years.

5) Early in 2007, Texas governor Perry issued an executive order to mandate all girls aged 11 and 12 get vaccinated with the HPV vaccine, causing quite a stir among state lawmakers and state residents.   Perry reportedly received financial support from a person connected with the vaccine maker.   Perry claimed that the vaccine can save women's lives and save expenses that would otherwise incur in patients with cervical cancer.   But the claim may not be factual.   As estimated, the overall annual expenses for treatment of cervical cancer in Texas may not exceed $10 million while the cost for the HPV vaccine would be as much as $120 million a year.

6) Merck, government officials and many doctors recommend HPV vaccine. But some noted researchers questioned the universal vaccination.   Diane M. Harper, physician, professor and director of Gynecologic Cancer Prevention Research Group Dartmouth Medical School called the mandated vaccination a "great big public health experiment".   She said "it is silly to mandate the vaccination".   She also said no evidence to prove the vaccine is safe.

7) The U.S. government cited the American Cancer Society as reporting that about 10,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and more than 3000 die from the disease each year in the United States.   The death rate is equivalent to 1/5 of the death risk from traffic, or 1/10 risk of death from breast cancer, or 1/100 risk of death from the complications of drugs and doctors errors.   Harvard University researchers estimated about 50,000 women die from causes related to intake of trans fat. This means that a woman whose risk of dying from cervical cancer is about 1/14 of risk of death from trans fat.   In other words, before you get cervical cancer and die from it, you might have died a dozen times from other causes already.

8) HPV vaccine can't replace Pap smear screening.   Pap smear is highly effective in finding cervical cancer in its early stage and effectively reduces the risk for women to die from this disease.   But the government and doctors as well warn that after you receive this HPV vaccine, you still have to do Pap smear.

9) The US government reported that about 26 % of all women acquire at least one type of about 100 HPV strains.   Among the 100, a couple of dozen are regarded as risky HPV strains.    15% of women would get risky HPV virus.   The HPV vaccine is designed to protect against strains 16 and 18, which infect about 2.2% of all women.

10) There are as many as 100 HPV strains and they are easy to spread through sexual contact.   However, only a small percentage of women could not clear up the virus in their body naturally.   Among this small percentage of women, certain percentage of women would acquire cervical cancer.   Overall, the risk of developing and dying from cervical cancer is very low.   In fact, only more than 3000 women die each year in the United States, which is rare.