| 8-18
Media
Families
with young girls are faced with Gardasil questions
If there were a vaccine available that could protect
your daughter against a virus believed to cause cancer, would
you give it to her? What if it hadn’t been around very long?
This is a question families across America are pondering with
the distribution of the relatively new Gardasil vaccine.
Gardasil is a vaccination consisting of three shots given over
six months that prevent four strains of the Human Papilloma Virus
(HPV), which is sexually transmitted. Two protect against seventy
percent of cases of cervical cancer and two protect against ninety
percent of cases of genital warts. The maker of the vaccine, Merck,
has had it approved by the Federal Drug Administration for use
in women and girls ages eleven to twenty-six.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
one in five American girls under the age of eighteen has received
the vaccine, which is a rate not unlike other newly-developed
voluntary vaccines throughout history.
Megan Maas, fifteen, of Marquette received the vaccine early on
as a safeguard.
“I think that my mom wanted me to get the vaccine because
she wanted me to be protected against cervical cancer and HPV
in the future,” Maas said.
Katy Martin, also fifteen, of Marquette, received the vaccine
as well, and feels her parents thought of it as a preventative
step against cancer.
“I think they want to do everything they can to protect me
from illnesses,” Martin said.
The majority of doctors believe the vaccine should be given before
girls become sexually active. Dr. Randall Johnson, who retired
within the past year after serving many years as the director
of the Marquette County Health Department, is one. According to
Johnson, there are about 10,000 women every year in this country
who develop cervical cancer, and about 3,000 to 4,000 of them
die every year.
“That’s largely preventable with this vaccine,”
he said. “It’s not 100 percent, it’s about ninety
percent effective in preventing getting infections with that virus,
and it does reduce [the chance of contracting] about seventy percent
of the cervical cancers.”
While Dr. Breanna Pond of OBGYN Associates in Marquette had concerns
about the vaccine initially, she now feels at ease administering
it.
“I didn’t want to give it right when it became available,
a couple of years ago, but now that they have given millions of
doses and a lot of follow-up on any potential side effects,”
she said. “I’m real comfortable right now that it’s
a safe vaccine.”
Pam Popper, PhD, director of the Health-Wellness Forum, a chain
of health and wellness centers located throughout the United States,
is against giving out the vaccine.
“Its benefits are dubious, its side effects—particularly
in the long term—are not well understood,” Popper said.
“It is expensive, and certainly should not be mandated for
young girls. The 1,600 possible adverse reactions include dehydration,
headaches, hyperventilation, muscle spasms, speech disorders,
loss of consciousness, blurred vision, vomiting, central nervous
system disorders, impaired tactile sensitivity, burning skin sensations,
muscular weakness, and increased red blood cell sedimentation
rate. These reports were characterized as ‘not serious,’
and I suppose, compared to death, they aren’t.
“But in my view, this vaccine’s usefulness is questionable
at best. Why would anyone knowingly take these risks, let alone
subject minor children to them?”
Johnson is in favor of the vaccine, but also feels families should
do their own independent research if they have concerns.
“I would tell them to look at reputable sources of information,
because there are lots of people that, for whatever reason, think
this is the worst thing that’s ever happened,” he said.
“I would recommend people look at the CDC recommendation
when they make that decision and try to be as objective about
it as possible.”
Popper not only questions the vaccine’s necessity, but also
questions its continued effectiveness.
“Merck has no idea how long the vaccine lasts and whether
or not a booster shot will be required,” she said. “The
Food and Drug Administration concurs that it cannot vouch for
how long the vaccine will remain effective.”
Pond agrees that follow-up research needs to continue on the vaccine’s
long-term effectiveness and safety.
“The only issue is we don’t know a lot of the long-term
outcome on it,” she said. “We don’t know if there’s
anything unsafe about this vaccine. We don’t know if there
will be any long-term side effects.”
One issue with the vaccine for some families is that their insurance
may not pay for it; it costs between $400 and $600 total for the
three vaccines.
Because of the cost, and accompanying profit, the manufacturer,
Merck, is pulling out all the stops for marketing since it is
one of the most expensive vaccinations ever, with sales expected
to reach $4 billion by 2010.
Television and radio commercials have young girls singing the
catchphrase “I’m going to be one less, one less!”
That, of course, refers to the hope that they won’t contract
the virus.
Johnson said despite the fact that it protects against sexually
transmitted infections, parents need not say anything more about
this vaccine than they do any other.
“I think it’s just like any other [vaccine], measles,
mumps, rubella,” he said. “It’s just a vaccine
designed to protect them against a viral infection that can be
fatal and can cause cancer. You don’t have to get into any
more detail, especially with young children, about why they’re
giving it at eleven or twelve, hopefully before they’re sexually
active.”
Another controversial aspect of Gardasil is whether it should
be made mandatory. Under a 1996 immigration law, it is required
for immigrants coming into this country because it is on the CDC’s
recommended list. This has caused some backlash because of the
cost and concerns connected to the vaccine. At last report, the
requirement was under review.
The possibility of the vaccine being made mandatory has caused
some concerns within the country as well. Texas, for example,
once required it, but has since rescinded that requirement.
Maas said it should be a personal decision.
“I do not think that the vaccine should be made mandatory,
because girls should have a choice about whether they want to
get the vaccine or not,” she said. “I think that making
the vaccine mandatory would be taking away women’s rights.”
Martin supports everyone getting the vaccine, but also doesn’t
feel it should be mandatory.
“I think it would be good if everybody would get it, but
I don’t think we should force people to get medication that
maybe doesn’t fully protect them,” she said. “It
might just keep them from doing things that they still should
do.”
While the American Cancer Society has hailed this as the first
vaccine targeted specifically for preventing cancer, the group
cautions that if vaccinated women decide to skip regular screening
for example, regular pap smears, in ten to twenty years, there
could be an increase in cervical cancer.
If you would like more information about the prevention of cervical
cancer and Gardasil, visit www.cdc.gov
—8-18 Media
Editor’s note: This story was written by Chelsea Parrish,
17, with contributions by Ben Harris, 13, and Erin Bozek-Jarvis,
15.
Ishpeming area kids stay safe on New Year's
Eve
It's New Year's Eve, and the gymnasium at the Ishpeming High
School is filled with local teenagers, along with some parents
and volunteers.
The group of roughly 100 youth will ring in 2009 and will spend
the entire night at the school as part of an All Nighter event
sponsored by Good News Assembly of God Church in Ishpeming.
First, young people checked in to register and get their All-Nighter
T-shirts. Then they headed upstairs to the gymnasium, where they
played games, listened to music, and just hung out instead of
going to outside parties where they might encounter alcohol or
drugs.
Participant Michelle Weygandt, fourteen, of Ishpeming, thinks
the All-Nighter was a good idea.
"I think it's a great way for teens to stay out of trouble
on New Year's Eve,"she said.
Ben Marta, seventeen, of Negaunee, agreed that was the most important
aspect of the event.
"I think it's a good idea because it gives a lot of the teenagers
a place to go on New Year's Eve, and it keeps them out of trouble,"he
said.
Good News Assembly of God has sponsored the event for the past
three years, but it was hosted for several more years before by
different organizations. According to Robby Gitzel, the youth
pastor with the church, this is the first time it was held at
Ishpeming High School. He said the change in location likely was
the reason the crowd nearly doubled to more than 100.
"Kids have been encouraged to invite their friends, and they've
brought a lot of friends,"Gitzel said.
The All-Nighter started at 11:00 p.m. and ended at 6:00 a.m. Because
it was held at the high school, more games and activities were
available to the kids who attended. They were able use onegym
for hanging out and listening to music and the other gym for games
such as dodgeball, blow-up Twister and Whopper-hopper. The kids
also took advantage of the pool at 2:00 a.m. The participants
were able to choose from a variety of activities, and even though
the games were fun, they weren't the favorite part of the night
for Stephen Weygandt, sixteen, of Ishpeming.
"My favorite part was just being able to hangout with my
friends and stay up all night,"he said.
In general, parents were comfortable to leave their children at
the All-Nighter because it was well organized and well supervised.
Becky Kuliu of Ishpeming was helping out and had four children
at the event.
"I think this event is a great idea, because a lot of kids
don't have anywhere to hang out,"she said. "And they
also need to get to know each other on different levels and play
with each other and hang out."
According to Gitzel, Good News Assembly of God held a faith program
for interested youth earlier in the evening at the church. At
that gathering, there was Christian music and messages about faith;
however, once they moved over to the high school, it was just
about having a good time.
"We encouraged them to invite their friends to a nonthreatening
place where they can just let them know that Christians can have
a fun time, too,"he said.
Stephen Weygandt said his youth group at the church, Legacy Student
Ministries, was happy to play a part in the event.
"I see it as an opportunity for my youth group to reach out
to other kids,"he said.
Marta, meanwhile, pointed out that the portion of the event at
the school was not specifically about faith, it was still a great
chance to blend friendship and religion.
"It brings me closer to everybody, which naturally will bring
me closer to my religion,"he said.
The event is scheduled to happen again next New Year's Eve.
--8-18 Media
Editor's note: This story was written by Tia Platteborze, 12;
Lorrisa Juntti, 11; Sydney Dorow, 10; and Mariel Morton, 9, with
contributions by T'nia Burse, 11 and Alyssa Usimaki, 9.
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