What Every Parent Should Know About the Cervical Cancer Vaccine

The cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil, has been the center of a fair amount of controversy in the past several years. There’s a lot of contradictory information and disagreement about the vaccine, and it’s hard to find the facts behind the pontificating on both sides of the issue. Currently, the vaccine is optional for teenage girls in most places in the United States.
What is Cervical Cancer?
Cervical cancer is a slow growing cancer that is easily detected by a standard test, the pap smear, that is a part of most routine gynecological exams. Cervical cancer is very slow growing, and if caught with a pap smear can be removed with minor out-patient surgery the vast majority of the time.
In countries where women do not have access to regular pap smears cervical cancer is one of the most frequent causes of death for women. However in countries like the United States where pap smears are commonly available and regularly covered by medical insurance very few women are in danger from cervical cancer.
What Does the Cervical Cancer Vaccine Do?
The cervical cancer vaccine doesn’t actually prevent cervical cancer. Scientists learned that there is virus that can cause cervical cancer, the human papilloma virus, or HPV. The cervical cancer vaccine is actually a vaccine that protects against some types of HPV. Since women who do not have HPV are less likely to develop cervical cancer, the vaccine reduces the chance that a woman will get cervical cancer.
Why Is the Cervical Cancer Vaccine Controversial?
Some people believe that the cervical cancer vaccine was not as thoroughly tested as it should have been. Most vaccine require nearly 10 years of testing before they receive FDA approval, but the cervical cancer vaccine was approved in a much shorter time – some sources say less than a year.
Also, since it only affects some strains of HPV, and not all cervical cancer is caused by HPV, the vaccine does not prevent all cervical cancer. Plus, the type of vaccine is one that usually wears off, so it is likely that girls getting the vaccine today will not be protected in 10 years.
Since cervical cancer is actually not a major threat to women who receive proper health care, the risk of side effects from a vaccine that did not receive thorough testing may outweigh the benefits of incomplete protection the vaccine offers.

Eventually, enough information will be available to help make decisions regarding the cervical cancer vaccine. For now, each family will need to speak with their pediatrician and gynecologist to determine if the cervical cancer vaccine is right for their children.