First things first: The supposed link between MMR vaccines and increased incidence of autism and irritable bowel disease are tenuous at best. Likewise, the worries regarding thimerosal in influenza vaccines are largely an artifact of very badly informed media-drones stirring up an even worse informed population of consumers.
That said, I will address the medical aspect of this -- I'm still too winter-weary for arguing politics...
Yes, prevention through immunization is one of the primary weapons in many public health battles against disease -- and love it or lump it, grade-school immunization has worked splendidly against killers like polio and tuberculosis -- WHICH ARE BOTH TRANSMISSIBLE BY AEROSOL MEANS. On the whole, HPV is found to not be readily transmissible by contact-free methods.
Now, be aware -- I think ANYTHING that is able to reduce rate of HPV-related cervical cancer is *fantastic* -- but I don't think elementary school inoculation is the answer... especially in light of how very new this vaccine is. While not necessarily bad science as such (skirting damn close, but not quite over the edge,) this whole idea gives me a bad flashback to the fallout from widespread DES use -- yikes!
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2007-02-06 12:36 am (UTC)The supposed link between MMR vaccines and increased incidence of autism and irritable bowel disease are tenuous at best. Likewise, the worries regarding thimerosal in influenza vaccines are largely an artifact of very badly informed media-drones stirring up an even worse informed population of consumers.
That said, I will address the medical aspect of this -- I'm still too winter-weary for arguing politics...
Yes, prevention through immunization is one of the primary weapons in many public health battles against disease -- and love it or lump it, grade-school immunization has worked splendidly against killers like polio and tuberculosis -- WHICH ARE BOTH TRANSMISSIBLE BY AEROSOL MEANS. On the whole, HPV is found to not be readily transmissible by contact-free methods.
Now, be aware -- I think ANYTHING that is able to reduce rate of HPV-related cervical cancer is *fantastic* -- but I don't think elementary school inoculation is the answer... especially in light of how very new this vaccine is. While not necessarily bad science as such (skirting damn close, but not quite over the edge,) this whole idea gives me a bad flashback to the fallout from widespread DES use -- yikes!
Further conversation on this topic in the