It has been a controversial topic hanging over the 2012 Republican presidential debates this year, and a significant uproar has surrounded false claims about the human papilloma virus made by U.S. Representative and presidential hopeful, Michele Bachmann.
Bachmann has openly criticized fellow presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry over his 2007 executive order to mandate vaccinations to young girls against HPV. And at a recent GOP debate, she criticized the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer by wrongfully deeming it “dangerous.”
Bachmann continued her with her fraudulent criticisms on the Today show by claiming that the HPV vaccine can cause mental retardation in young girls who have been vaccinated. Bachmann said a woman whose daughter had received the HPV vaccine approached her and affirmed that the daughter “suffered from mental retardation thereafter.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement later that day saying that there is zero scientific validity to Bachmann’s inflammatory remarks. They recommended that all girls around the age of 11 or 12 receive the vaccine because it is a “life-saving vaccine that can protect girls from cervical cancer.”
Despite Bachmann’s ignorant assertions, the vaccine has a superb safety record after over 35 million administered doses according to the AAP report and should definitely become a state-mandated vaccine.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the vaccine is highly effective in preventing specific HPV types and the most common health problems that stem from HPV. And health officials have consistently assured the public that the vaccine is no more dangerous than the mumps, hepatitis B and measles vaccines that are mandated in most states. The real reason the HPV vaccine has become so heavily scrutinized is because, unlike other less-controversial mandatory vaccines, this one has been politicized due to its association with a sexually transmitted disease. The vaccine is recommended for prepubescent girls in order to protect them hopefully well before they become sexually active. This makes parents uneasy, but the facts are clear.
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States according to the CDC. More than 25 percent of girls and women ages 14 to 49 have been infected, and 44 percent of those cases occur in women age 20 to 24. Millions of new infections occur each year, and researchers think that at least half of all adults have been infected at some point in their lives.
There are many fears surrounding contraception and familiarizing teens with it, but those who preach abstinence should also pay attention to the numbers. Even if a female remains a virgin until marriage, if she marries a partner who has had sex with just one other person before her, that female is susceptible to HPV. And any kind of intimate genital contact can transmit the virus.
The spreading of the misinformation just means that it’s more important than ever to be educated and know the facts. Because of HPV’s widespread nature and its public health effect, a mandate of the vaccine should be irrefutable.