[Marie]

Annual pap smears hope to catch cervical cancer before it becomes a nasty, invasive, metastatic disease. They in no way prevent the disease, nor are they perfect.

I do agree with you on this.

*IF* this vaccine is safe and truly protects women from cervical cancer... *WHOOPEE*!! I'm there.

BUT I do NOT want my daughter on the front lines of *any* new drug. I've known 5 women who've battled cervical cancer. They're all alive to tell the tale. But my mom was sterilized by her IUD in the 70's and I know medicine isn't perfect. Thalidomide, the Dalkon shield, Phen-fen... at one time we thought they were all fine.

If this were a new drug that offered the hope of saving people on the edge, then I'd be all for it. But we're taking risks with healthy young girls and we won't know for sure how safe this vaccine really is until it's been out for a number of years.

If another mother wants to take this risk with her daughter, fine. But I won't be on that band-wagon.

[goodnesswins]

Kinda like the early birth control pills......

[Old_Mil]

Certainly your choice to make (I'm not in any way supporting mandatory Gardasil vaccinations). However, we've vaccinated millions of people over almost three generations now and there simply isn't any serious scientific evidence that vaccination is harmful to one's health...I'd say that track record puts Gardasil in a different category than the other things you cite. Certainly medicine isn't perfect, but vaccination has a long and respected track record when it comes to preventing disease.

[Mrs. Ranger]

"*IF* this vaccine is safe and truly protects women from cervical cancer... *WHOOPEE*!! I'm there."

Ahh, but therein lies the rub - According to the latest Merck commercial, even they *don't* guarantee this vaccine will be 100% effective. "May prevent" is hardly a rousing endorsement.

Given the exorbitant cost, the apparent lack of long-term clinical trials, the increasing number of reported "side effects" that go far beyond those that Merck acknowledges, and the *fact* that Merck will only say that it *might* prevent only 4 types of HPV in *some* of those who receive the vaccine, I'd say you're wise to be wary. Sadly, this does not appear to be the "magic bullet" some appear to think it is.

[teawithmisswilliams]

If another mother wants to take this risk with her daughter, fine. But I won't be on that band-wagon.

I agree. This vaccine was tested on fewer than 2,000 girls, and has been on the market for less than a year. Too soon, and too much drug money and influence being used to force this on our daughters.