U.S. Researchers are saying that some young women who get the HPV vaccine in order to prevent cervical cancer (among other concerns) incorrectly believe that getting the shot removes the need to practice safe sex.

The study, published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine highlights a dire need for better education regarding the limitations of vaccines.

Merck’s Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix protect against certain strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer and genital warts, but neither vaccine prevents other sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhea, or HIV to name a few. In addition, HPV vaccines are preventative in nature, meaning that they are not substitutes for treatment of any active infections. The study says that most young women understand the limitations of the vaccine, but warn against overestimation of its effectiveness, specifically regarding the risks posed by other STDs unrelated to HPV.

Recently, the CDC advised that young males receive HPV shots as well almost five years after recommending vaccinating young females. Full story from Newsy below:

The study was performed by Dr. Tanya Kowalczyk of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and surveyed 339 girls between the ages of 13 and 21 regarding their perceptions surrounding their protection from STDs after their first HPV vaccination. While most girls understood the continued need to practice safe sex, a quarter of the respondents believed that the vaccine lessened the risk of contracting STDs. Among the factors associated with this belief included a poor understanding of HPV infections and their vaccines, less overall concern about contracting HPV, and lack of condom use with one’s previous male partner.

These findings point to a rising need for better education regarding the virus and its vaccine:

“Clinicians discussing HPV vaccination with girls and their mothers may need to emphasize the limitations of the vaccine and to specifically address that the vaccine does not prevent other sexually transmitted infections,” said researchers.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, with some individual grants by Merck. Authors admitted a limitation of the study; since the population surveyed were from a single urban clinic serving low-income clients, the findings may not be an accurate reflection of the general population’s beliefs and understanding.

Regardless, HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States. It is estimated that more than half of the U.S. adult population will be exposed to the virus at some point during their lifetime.

What do you think of recommended HPV vaccinations? Is there a greater need for education in this area of human health?

Some Young Women May Overestimate HPV Vaccine Protection is a post from: The Inquisitr

Perhaps one of the larger- if not the largest- indicator of the uniquely American religious influence on public policy amongst Western countries is the bizarre, large-scale opposition to the HPV vaccine, Gardasil.

The relatively irrelevant-to-politics controversy over the HPV vaccine has unsurprisingly become a wedge issue leading up to the 2012 election, another battleground in the “culture war” many conservatives seem to believe America is currently fighting. (It would probably do those types well to remember we’re actually fighting actual wars in which Americans die every day.) The issue was front and center during recent Republican debates, and many candidates are toting opposition to the vaccine as a campaign platform, perhaps to divert attention to lack of substance in other areas like economic strategy.

It’s probably also not a surprise that religulous Republican frontrunner Michelle Bachmann is leading the pack of know-nothings, hoisting up HPV vaccine opposition as if the position is something of which to be proud. If you’re not aware of the HPV vaccine’s existence, when administered at an early age, the shot provides later protection against cervical cancer caused by the human papilloma virus- also known as HPV. While the condition is technically a sexually transmitted disease, it can be contracted by any woman exposed- for instance, a marriage to a philandering or otherwise infected man provides no protection from painful and avoidable death from the disease, nor does infection during a rape.

Bachmann and her ilk oppose vaccination ostensibly on the grounds it gives license to a woman to be sexually promiscuous. But instead of presenting her concerns accurately during a recent debate, Bachmann framed her opposition as one based in worries about the vaccine’s safety:

“There’s a woman who came up crying to me tonight after the debate,” Bachmann said after the debate, where she had told Perry on stage that she was “offended” by his decision. “She said her daughter was given that vaccine. She told me her daughter suffered mental retardation as a result of that vaccine.” She repeated the story to several news outlets over the next 24 hours and sent a fundraising letter to supporters about the exchange she had with Perry on the debate stage.

Given the fact the HPV vaccine is relatively new, Bachmann could have caused real harm- and eventual death- by planting such a harmful notion with no indication the anecdote was true. Later, when pressed by Sean Hannity, she admitted that she did not know if the tale was accurate. It’s unlikely Bachmann herself will correct the misinformation, so two professors have stepped up and offered $11,000 if the woman in Bachmann’s story will step up and allow her claim to be verified- if she exists at all.

University of Michigan bioethics professor Steven Miles stepped forward and offered $1K if the woman is real, inspiring another professor to up the ante:

His offer was upped by his former boss from the University of Minnesota, Art Caplan, who is now director of the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics. Caplan said he would match Miles’ challenge and offered $10,000 for proof of the HPV vaccine victim.

“‘These types of messages in this climate have the capacity to do enormous public health harm,’” Miles said of why he made the offer. ‘The woman, assuming she exists, put this claim into the public domain and it’s an extremely serious claim and it deserves to be analyzed.’”

It will be interesting to see not only if Bachmann’s tale holds up- I largely suspect it will not- but more so whether she will man up and retract her claim based on the fact real, living women can eventually die if not protected by the HPV vaccine. In 2007, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 4,021 women in the United States alone died from the treatable disease.

Professors Offer $11K For Proof of Bachmann’s HPV Vaccine Story is a post from: The Inquisitr