Common Sense

An advisory committee recommended Thursday that girls 11-12 years-old be vaccinated against HPV, the leading cause of cervical cancer.

The panel’s recommendation was hailed by health experts.

“It’s a wonderful thing. It’s good news all around,” said Dr. Connie L. Trimble, associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics and pathology at Johns Hopkins’ Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, in Baltimore. Trimble is working on a therapeutic vaccine for people already infected with the virus.

The advisory committee also recommended that the vaccine be included in the Vaccines for Children Program, which provides free vaccines for children up to age 18 who are eligible for Medicaid, are uninsured or are Native American or Alaskan Native.

We’ve written about this before, mostly because some religious conservatives felt that saving children from cancer might promote underage sex, so they were trying to block this vaccine. Even if that were true (and most studies show that lack of knowledge is more of a cause of underage sex than proper information), you would still think the lesser of two evils would prevail. I’m not a parent, but if I had to choose between underage sex or underage sex and death by cancer for my daughter, I’d pick that first one. Maybe that’s just me.

The vaccine is effective against 4 of the most virulent strains of the virus, which is actually alarmingly common. Some strains are more or less harmless and the body is able to fight them off. Others are chronic, leading to some serious health problems not the least of which is genital warts. HPV has also been shown to be a leading cause of cervical cancer, which in turn is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide.

An advisory committee recommended Thursday that girls 11-12 years-old be vaccinated against HPV, the leading cause of cervical cancer.

The panel’s recommendation was hailed by health experts.

“It’s a wonderful thing. It’s good news all around,” said Dr. Connie L. Trimble, associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics and pathology at Johns Hopkins’ Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, in Baltimore. Trimble is working on a therapeutic vaccine for people already infected with the virus.

The advisory committee also recommended that the vaccine be included in the Vaccines for Children Program, which provides free vaccines for children up to age 18 who are eligible for Medicaid, are uninsured or are Native American or Alaskan Native.

We’ve written about this before, mostly because some religious conservatives felt that saving children from cancer might promote underage sex, so they were trying to block this vaccine. Even if that were true (and most studies show that lack of knowledge is more of a cause of underage sex than proper information), you would still think the lesser of two evils would prevail. I’m not a parent, but if I had to choose between underage sex or underage sex and death by cancer for my daughter, I’d pick that first one. Maybe that’s just me.

The vaccine is effective against 4 of the most virulent strains of the virus, which is actually alarmingly common. Some strains are more or less harmless and the body is able to fight them off. Others are chronic, leading to some serious health problems not the least of which is genital warts. HPV has also been shown to be a leading cause of cervical cancer, which in turn is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide.