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The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has released new guidelines advising against annual Pap tests for women younger than age 21. The agency says younger girls will generally only show evidence of human papillomavirus (HPV), which it says rarely leads to cervical cancer for women younger than 21. The findings were reported by MSNBC.
Washington Examiner opinion editor Barbara Hollingsworth raises an interesting question about Merck’s cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil: If 52 deaths linked to sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles prompted massive, multi-billion-dollar recalls, then why is Gardasil still administered to thousands of school-age girls when it has been linked to 49 deaths in a briefer time span?
Women considering receiving the Gardasil vaccine for themselves or their daughters may encounter a lot of confusing, sometimes contradictory information and sweeping generalizations. Because January is Cervical Cancer Awareness month, more women and girls may be seeking information about human papillomavirus (HPV), Gardasil, and the more recently approved vaccine Cervarix, which makes it even more important that truth about the vaccine be known.
Merck and Co. announced yesterday that Dr. Julie Gerberding, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will head the pharmaceutical giant’s vaccine division. Dr. Gerberding served as the CDC director from 2002 to 2009, stepping down when President Barack Obama took office.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently rescinded its controversial and, some argued, discriminatory requirement that all girls and women ages 11 to 26 immigrating to the United States receive at least one injection of Gardasil, Merck’s human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which informs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on vaccine use and policy, declined to advocate for Gardasil’s systematic and widespread use in boys and men. The human papilloma virus, or HPV, does not present the same risks of cancer in males as it does in females, but it can lead to the development genital warts.
