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The decision to vaccinate children is an important choice facing parents, in particular is the risk of side effects and questions surrounding newly marketed vaccines. The cervical cancer vaccine is available from one company, Merck, and is marketed as Gardasil. In the future there will be other brands, and the effectiveness will be more definitive, but as of now, the vaccine is not a viable solution to preventing cervical cancer. Though it is a decision up to every parent, and not all will come to the same conclusion, the facts surrounding what is known about cervical cancer and vaccination follows. An informed decision is all any parent can hope to make.

HPV Infection and Cervical Cancer

Certain strains of human papilloma virus (HPV) have been found to be associated with cervical cancer. However, the virus does not cause cancerous changes in cervical cells on its own. Cancer development occurs in what is known as a two-hit model. There must be two alterations in the genetic makeup of the human cells, either genetic or environmental, to result in cancer. The virus offers one possible environmental explanation to work in concert with genetic predisposition to the disease. Also, HPV is usually cleared by the immune system without incident. Cervical cancer has been shown to be caused by persistent HPV infection, which only occurs in an estimated 5% of women.

Women are not exposed to HPV until their first sexual encounter. Most women have their first exposure in their early 20s, with continual exposure over the course of their sexually active life. Reinfection with HPV is a known phenomenon, with immune clearance. The most common disease from HPV is genital warts. Accoding to the FDA clinical trials, Gardasil does NOT prevent HPV infection, though antibodies to the virus are measurable after vaccination. However, since the human body usually clears the virus without incidence anyway it is inefficient to vaccinate against it. The only women who would truly benefit from the vaccine are those who have a genetic predisposition to cervical cancer.

Gardasil Side Effects

The side effects of the cervical cancer vaccine include the development of flu-like symptoms, which indicates that the immune system mounts a defense. The developers claim that the vaccine prevents the development of cervical cancer associated with certain types of HPV. Patients were followed for approximately 2 years, which is not enough time for cancer development, which can take decades.

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