Hermit
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HPV Vaccine
« on: 2005-11-14 06:02:04 » |
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I ran into a terrifying, but interesting story at http://avclub.com/content/savagelove. I liked his phrasing sufficiently to quote it here, although I found a more informative report over at the San Francisco Chronicle.
STRAIGHT RIGHTS UPDATE: As I mentioned a few months ago, a vaccine for two of the most common strains of HPV, the virus that causes genital warts, is currently moving through the federal approval process. HPV can also cause cervical cancer in women, and the cancers caused by the virus kill 4,000 American women every year. Who could possibly be against the introduction of a vaccine—one that has proven 100 percent effective in clinical tests!—that will save thousands of women's lives every year? Those "culture of life" assfucks, that's who.
"A new vaccine that protects against cervical cancer has set up a clash between health advocates [and] social conservatives who say immunizing teenagers could encourage sexual activity," the Washington Post reported last week. Doctors want teenage girls to receive the vaccine as a matter of routine when they hit puberty, something the religious right opposes. "Because the vaccine protects against a sexually transmitted virus, many conservatives oppose making it mandatory, citing fears that it could send a subtle message condoning sexual activity before marriage... 'I've talked to some who have said, "This is going to sabotage our abstinence message,"' said Gene Rudd, associate executive director of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations." (To his credit, Rudd said he would want his daughters vaccinated.)
The right's abstinence message has bigger problems than this vaccine. Studies have shown that young men and women are still having premarital sex—no shit—despite the billions of dollars the Bush administration has poured into abstinence education. A study conducted at Texas A&M University found that kids who've been subjected to abstinence-only sex education, the right's preferred brand, have more sex than kids who aren't subjected to abstinence-only sex education. So what the right is saying is this: We're willing to kill American women in order to avoid "sabotaging" our ineffectual abstinence-only message. Nice.
Who ultimately gets to determine the government's position on the HPV vaccine? Thanks to George W. Bush, the Christian fundies do. From the Washington Post: "The jockeying [around the HPV vaccine] reflects the growing influence social conservatives, who had long felt overlooked by Washington, have gained on a broad spectrum of policy issues under the Bush administration. In this case, a former member of the conservative group Focus On The Family serves on the federal panel that is playing a pivotal role in deciding how the vaccine is used." W stands for women—that's what he told us when he ran for president. But, hey, it wasn't a lie. George W. Bush never said anything about standing for live women.
I've said it before, straight folks, and I'll say it again: The right-wingers and the fundies and the sex-phobes don't just have it in for the queers. They're coming for your asses too.
San Francisco Chronicle
Quote:The vaccine protects women against strains of a ubiquitous germ called the human papilloma virus. Although many strains of the virus are innocuous, some can cause cancerous lesions on the cervix (the outer end of the uterus), making them the primary cause of this cancer in the United States. Cervical cancer strikes more than 10,000 U.S. women each year, killing more than 3,700.
The vaccine appears to be virtually 100 percent effective against two of the most common cancer-causing HPV strains. Merck, whose vaccine is further along, plans to ask the Food and Drug Administration by the end of the year for approval to sell the shots. |
There really shouldn't be any discussion needed. Let's look at sexual contact...
The study of ethnically diverse high school freshmen from California found that almost 20% had tried oral sex, compared with 13.5% who said they had intercourse. Percentage of teens who have had intercourse and their ages:
| Age | Vaginal Intercourse | Oral Sex | | Boys | | 15 | 25.1% | 35.1% | | 16 | 37.5% | 42.0% | | 17 | 46.9% | 55.7% | | 18 | 62.4% | 65.4% | | 19 | 68.9% | 74.2% | | Girls | | 15 | 26.0% | 26.0% | | 16 | 39.6% | 42.4% | | 17 | 49.0% | 55.5% | | 18 | 70.3% | 70.2% | | 19 | 77.4% | 74.4% |
Source: 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, Centers for Disease Control
Unfortunately they did not ask younger children (as this was regarded as "morally wrong"? Encouraging "promiscuous sexual activity"? As if that isn't in our nature?) I'd suggest that when a quarter to a third admit to having had oral or vaginal sex (and they (mistakenly IMO) didn't ask about unprotected anal sex, which I am told is more common than vaginal sex in these days when anal sex is not discussed, but virginity is "sold" as precious and condoms are dissed as ineffective) by age 15, then at least 8% to 15% probably have had sex before age 13* (and bully for them), only it was probably unprotected (a disastrous mistake), courtesy of their totally fucked up education or lack of it.
Another factor crops up here:
Quote:| "Parents should have the choice. There are those who would say, 'We can provide a better, healthier alternative than the vaccine, and that is to teach abstinence,' " Rudd said. |
This is why the USA now leads the industrial nations in the incidence of STDs.
Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health
Volume 36, Number 1, January/February 2004
CONTEXT: In the United States, young people aged 15-24 represent 25% of the sexually experienced population...
RESULTS: Approximately 18.9 million new cases of STD occurred in 2000, of which 9.1 million (48%) were among persons aged 15-24. Three STDs (human papillomavirus, trichomoniasis and chlamydia) accounted for 88% of all new cases of STD among 15-24-year-olds.
Incidence and Prevalence of Selected STDs among 15-24 year olds and strength of evidence. USA 2000
| STD | Incidence | Prevalence | Strength of Evidence | | Total | 9.1 million | u | II | | Chlamydia trachomatis | 1.5 million | 1.0 million | II | | Neisseria gonorrhoeae | 431,000 | u | II | | Treponema pallidum(Syphilis) | 8,200 | u | II | | Genital Herpes (hsv2 ONLY) | 640,000 | 4.2 million | II | | Human Papilloma Virus | 4.6 million | 9.2 million | III | | Hepatitis B | 7,500 | u | II | | Trichomonas vaginalis | 1.9 million | u | III | | HIV | 15,000 | u | II |
u unavailable
381,818 per 1% of 15-24 year old population.
Despite decreases in the rates of some reportable STDs during the 1990s, we estimate that 18.9 million new cases of STD occurred in 2000, of which 9.1 million (48%) were among young people aged 15-24. These estimates emphasize this age-group's particular vulnerability to STDs. Of the STDs examined, HPV was the most commonly acquired, followed by trichomoniasis and chlamydia. Together, these three STDs accounted for 88% of all new cases of STD among 15-24-year-olds in 2000; HPV and trichomoniasis accounted for 72% of new infections.
[Hermit]
Note that approximately half of the infections occur in a quarter of the sexually active population. Also note that the total population 15-24 is approximately 38 181 800 meaning that approximately 25% of the sexually active population below 24 has had at least one STD. Many of these are viral and ultimately, at least in many cases, terminal. e.g. HIV, Hepatitus B, HPV. Others affect general and reproductive health for the life of the carrier.
Now examine the incidence of HPV. At 4.6 million, this represents a cruel 12.05% of the total population 15-25 and approximately 16% of the sexually active. About one tenth of those will die due to HPV related cervical cancer - each year.
I suggest that an effective age for these shots would be at around age 10 at the very latest, earlier if there is no medical contraindication, to be sure that as many children as possible are protected.
We have killed several tens of thousands of Afghans because their rather brutal government refused to hand over a respected citizen as soon as the US demanded it without providing any evidence against that person when around 2,738 Americans were killed on 911 (Wikipedia). Yet here the same idiots as are responsible for killing Afghans (and passing laws to prevent Americans from being extradited on similar charges even with evidence), are suggesting that it is fine by them if 4,000 women die each and every year for their ideology. So yes, I think that Dan Savage is quite correct when he gets hot under the collar at the savages (and their ideological dittoheads) currently doing their best to drag the US (and the world) back into the dark ages. If you think about it a bit, while not as dramatic as destabilizing the planet, this seems like quite reasonable grounds for getting pissed off.
Hermit
*And judging by the fact that many women seem to remember (anecdotal alert, s < 40) that they first started masturbating at 5 or 6 (although they didn't necessarily know that was what it was called) perhaps earlier if the opportunity arose.
PS Notice that except for pre-16 oral sex, girls start earlier and get more. So much for quite a few preconceptions (if you will pardon the pun  ).
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