Cervical cancer preventin: Gardasil HPV vaccine doubts grow

Los Angeles, CA

The safety and effectiveness of the HPV vaccine Gardasil as a preventive cervical cancer treatment for girls are questioned in a report.

Sandra Levy wants to do everything she can to safeguard the health of her 11-year-old daughter -- and that, of course, includes cancer prevention. She has had her child inoculated with one shot of Gardasil, the human papilloma virus vaccine that may prevent cervical cancer. But now, she says, she has serious reservations about going ahead with the next two injections of the course.

"It's very confusing, and we really don't know if it's 100% safe," says Levy, of Long Beach. "I'm not against vaccines, but I don't want to do anything that would harm my daughter."

Though most medical organizations strongly advocate using the HPV vaccine, some doctors and parents, like Levy, are asking whether the vaccine's benefits really outweigh its costs. They say they aren't convinced that the expensive shots offer any more protection than preventive measures already available -- principally, regular screening via the Pap smear test.

A handful worry that blanket immunizations of the nation's adolescents could backfire by lulling them into a false sense of security that leads them to neglect regular screening. If that happened, vaccination could eventually boost cervical cancer rates instead of lowering them.

In addition, because Gardasil protects only against the HPV strains linked most strongly to cervical cancer, "we don't know if it will make a difference in the ultimate rates of cancer," says Abby Lippman, an epidemiologist at McGill University in Montreal who has researched the HPV vaccine. "The jury is still out on how much benefit we're actually going to get with this vaccine."

A report released in June stirred up more doubts. Although cause and effect were not proved, the report listed serious events -- such as seizures, spontaneous abortions and even deaths -- among teens, preteens and young women who had earlier had Gardasil shots.

As a result, the decision -- to vaccinate or not? -- has become controversial. Sorting through the pros and cons can be daunting for many parents.

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