Dayton Business Daily

What are the adverse affects of Gardasil on young girls? Do the benefits outweigh the risks?

My niece's mom wants to get her the shots. It takes time to realize it, but many of the medical advancements--pills, surgeries, etc.--have negative consequences. It's like we're human guinea pigs. So are the shots safe or not?

Public Comments

1. I think so!
2. Yes, the shots are safe. True, there is always a small risk of an adverse reaction, but *extensive* studies have shown that there are fewer reactions with Gardasil than with many other common vaccines. Any medication or medical procedure is tested extensively under the watch of the FDA before being approved for general use. Sometimes a harmful side-effect slips through, but these are incredibly rare compared to the amount of medical technology in our lives today. Your niece is certainly not a guinea pig (unless she specifically and knowingly signed up for an experimental medication). It's this minute risk that is played up by certain ideological groups that are opposed to the vaccine for other reasons. Specifically, they believe that removing the risk of HPV will cause girls to be promiscuous... which is a total load of BS and just highlights the double standard that we hold males and females to in our society. It also ignores the fact that a woman can catch HPV through no fault of her own. Their rationale is unconvincing, so they exaggerate the medical risks of the vaccine to scare people away. In other words, the vaccine is just as safe as any other vaccine. What's different are the stakes. If you don't get a flu vaccine, you might catch a particularly nasty form of the virus and be sick for a little while. If you don't get the HPV vaccine, you could contract the disease and develop cervical cancer. It's totally worth it.