Sexually transmitted diseases (or STDs/STIs) have always been an issue of taking extra measures and regular checks, unfortunately, mostly on the part of women. Some STDs are easily treated and do not bring about long-term health problems, while others can end up causing intractable diseases. With the HPV virus belonging to the second group, it seems reasonable for the government to lobby for the vaccination to become mandatory for middle school girls to reduce the number of HPV-related precancers.
The fact that the US government is forming a pro-vaccination discourse is undeniable. The website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) includes dozens of pages dedicated to monitoring HPV-IMPACT on an annual basis, collecting demographic and clinical data on women with a high-grade cervical lesion (HPV-IMPACT, 2018). All these measures are conducted to estimate trends in cervical cancer screening and vaccine effectiveness. As HPV is the most common STI, the vast research on its prevention is not surprising.
For now, there is only one HPV vaccine that is available in the United States –Gardasil® 9. This vaccine went through clinical trials with 30,000 females and proved to be safe, aside from minor side effects. However, while CDC advocates that there is no evidence suggesting HPV vaccine negatively affects fertility, studies arguing that women who have received the HPV shot were less likely to conceive (DeLong G., 2018). For instance, 60% of women who haven’t received the shot were found to be pregnant at least once, whereas only 35% have ever been pregnant after getting vaccinated (DeLong G., 2018). Still, the issue remains multi-faceted, as there is also a problem of Child sexual abuse and rape, which is partly covered by the administration of the HPV vaccine (Standing orders for administering human papillomavirus vaccine to children and teens, 2019). Some teenagers are sexually active without parents’ concern, and this, too, contributes to the necessity of HPV vaccination to become mandatory.
All in all, vaccination almost always provides some side effects and possible health problems. However, in some situations, the consequences of not having an injection exceed the negative impact of having it. In the case of HPV, there are other facets of the problem, like violence and non-consensual sex. Therefore, vaccination remains the only way to prevent serious health problems for women in the future.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Human papillomavirus vaccine impact monitoring project (HPV-IMPACT). Web.
DeLong, G. (2018). A lowered probability of pregnancy in females in the USA aged 25-29 who received a human papillomavirus vaccine injection. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, 81(14), 661-674. Web.
Immunization Action Coalition. (2019). Standing orders for administering human papillomavirus vaccine to children and teens.Web.