Tag Archives: cervical cancer

Gardasil Required For Young Female Immigrants

Catherine StrawnOctober 1, 2008 //

If you’re a female U.S. citizen between 11 and 26 years old, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that you get the Gardasil vaccine; however, if you are a female foreigner trying to become a permanent resident of the country, it’s not just recommended you get the vaccine, it’s required. This isn’t because the U.S. government thinks that foreigners are going to infect our entire population with cervical cancer. A 1996 immigration law states that any vaccine recommended by the government for its citizens becomes mandatory for green-card applicants. Even the chairman of the CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices didn’t realize this was the case when it recommended the vaccine to citizens. Keep reading »

FDA Guards Gardasil’s Market Share

SimchaJuly 1, 2008 //

So far in the states, Gardasil has been the only FDA approved vaccine for the double-whammy strain of HPV that causes cervical cancer. However, in Europe Cervarix has been kicking HPV’s butt and protecting women across the continent. While the drug has been in the FDA review process for foreva-eva, it looks like new data submitted by the makers, GlaxoSmithKline, will stall approvals now until 2009. Sheesh! What’s a girl gotta do to get some options? [Wall Street Journal]

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Gardasil Has Been Gettin’ Some Haters

SimchaJune 25, 2008 //

The Human Papillomavirus, aka HPV, can cause cervical cancer and genital warts. And now it’s possible that the vaccine that guards against HPV, Gardasil, may cause death. Around the world, 11 girls, as young as the age of 11, have died after receiving the shots, and about another 1,700 have reported complications which include fainting and GBS, a disorder which weakens your immune system. Since 95% of people who have HPV are asymptomatic, all in all, .002% of women with HPV die from related cases of cervical cancer. While it seems like fear mongering to support or oppose the potentially life-saving or life-threatening vaccination, getting guarded by Gardasil should clearly be a personal decision. Currently three states are making shots mandatory for adolescent girls, against the advice of the American College of Pediatrics and a researcher who worked on developing the vaccine. Sure, egalitarian vaccinations sound like a good idea in theory, but now that the results on Gardasil are in, ladies, like everything else, should be free to do what they want. Get your laws off my body! [Huffington Post and Natural News]

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The Nookie Know-It-All: His Cigs And Your Cervix

Sexpert LindsayJune 13, 2008 //

“Can a woman get cervical cancer if a smoker routinely goes down on her?” — Paranoid About My Puffer, Houston, TX

There hasn’t been any real medical research to support this claim, but you’re not totally crazy. If I had to take a guess, I’d say having a smoker go down on you is like putting Equal in your coffee. It’s not awesome for you, but if you don’t eat eight bathtubs full of it a day you’ll be fine.

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FDA Smackdown: Cervarix vs. Gardasil

SimchaMarch 20, 2008 //

The FDA is rushing to rubber stamp Gardasil, a cervical cancer vaccine, for women ages 27-45. Initially, the miracle HPV-preventer has been well received by its intended market — women and girls ages 9-26. Due to Gardasil’s success, amounting in $1.5 billion in sales last year, its makers, Merck & Co, are looking to expand potential beneficiaries. Merck has found Gardasil to be 91% effective in women 24-45 and are pushing for FDA approval within six months. The FDA is already reviewing a similarly effective British vaccine, Cervarix, put out by GlaxoSmithKline PLC, which is currently used for women up to 55 years of age in the U.K. No matter who wins the vaccine approval race, this is good news for women. With 250,000 reported deaths from cervical cancer every year, somethin’ has gotta be done! [ Boston Globe] Keep reading »

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