Whats the Truth About HPV and The Cervical Cancer Vaccine?
I’m a young woman concerned about my health, about preventing illness, and about the well being of young women everywhere. With these concerns in mind, I looked into Merck pharmaceutical company’s new product, Gardasil, a vaccine that claims to prevent cervical cancer by preventing infection with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Experts say HPV is a sexually transmitted disease that may cause some forms of cervical cancer. The concept behind the Gardasil vaccine is that if women avoid HPV infection, they will avoid developing the forms of cancer HPV is thought to cause. Gardasil works by introducing “dead” HPV virus into our bodies through series of three injections that cause us to produce HPV antibodies. It is believed that these antibodies will protect us from contracting HPV if it is passed on to us during sexual intercourse. After reading up on HPV and Gardasil, I have a lot of questions.
