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HPV Vaccine -- So Far, So Good

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Oct 23, 2008 6:20 pm US/Eastern

HPV Vaccine -- So Far, So Good

Reporting
Dr. Maria Simbra
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Almost all pediatricians and nine out of ten family practice doctors are giving the HPV vaccine to their adolescent female patients.

Now, an immunization advisory panel to the CDC has reassuring news -- no major safety problems in the vaccine two years after FDA approval.

This is good news for the vaccine Gardasil, which protects against the human papilloma virus, a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer and genital warts.

"Sometimes parents and teenagers are surprised to know how long it was studied, and how well it was studied in term of safety prior to being FDA approved and marketed," says Dr. Jonathan Pletcher, an adolescent medicine specialist at Children's Hospital.

Ten years of studies back up the FDA approval. The series of three shots at $120 each is given to girls at age 12 -- before they become sexually active.

"It's a preventive medicine, and you want to get it before you're exposed to any of the agents that will lead to the disease you're trying to prevent."

The CDC is hearing several reports, all reinforcing the vaccine's safety: no blood clots, allergic reactions, strokes, seizures, or nerve swelling. A few cases of severe allergic reactions were reported in Australia.

Women who got Gardasil inadvertently while they were pregnant had no birth defects or miscarriages.

Some girls faint when they get the shot, but the rate of fainting was not any different compared to other vaccines.

"The more anxious you get about a shot, the more pain you have," explains Dr. Pletcher, "and the quicker you jump up from the table after getting the shot, the more likely you are to faint, which teenagers are prone to anyway."

Some parents refuse the vaccine, saying it's too new, their daughter is too young, or that insurance didn't cover it.

Dr. Pletcher points out the shot has been around about 12 years now; the main effectiveness studies show it works well at preventing cervical cancer (he says there's no reason to believe that an immunization will change somebody's decision making about having sex); and it's a rare insurance plan that doesn't cover it, and there are back up measures to help those who can't afford it.


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