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 You may have seen and been alarmed by mass media reports about the latest Journal of the American Medical Association study that claim the human papillomavirus (HPV) which causes cervical cancer has infected far more women -- about 27 percent of women between ages 14-59 -- than most experts assumed.
Unfortunately, the media has focused on that sole number among an array of facts about HPV, and the one Merck, makers of the unnecessary vaccine Gardasil, no doubt hoped for.
No surprise, the media neglected to take a closer look at all the facts reported in the study that wind up telling a completely different tale about HPV. -
Just 2 percent of the patients in the study were infected by the kinds of HPV that put them at high-risk for developing cervical cancer.
- A little more than 3 percent were infected with the types of HPV that Gardasil was concocted to prevent.
- About 90 percent of all HPV infections go away within two years.
- The most important risk factors of HPV are marital status, age and the number of sexual partners.
Amazing how a full disclosure of all the facts put an entirely different spin on HPV, and the hugely debatable need for any American state to consider requiring Gardasil. Let's hope, as the real facts about this study emerge, Texas Gov. Rick Perry's executive order mandating young girls be vaccinated with Gardasil, after opportune lobbying by his former chief of staff, will evaporate just as quickly.
Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 297, No. 8, February 28, 2007: 813-819 Free Full Text Study
Association of American Physicians and Surgeons March 1, 2007
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