[ConservaTexan]

Seems like Gardasil may not be as safe as Merck & CO., Inc. are claiming. It is sounding more like VIOXX by the minute. At the least it should be tested further, before we begin assaulting little girls with it.

[Old_Mil]

If you won't believe Merck, perhaps you'll believe the UT-Galveston medical school..

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the known cause of almost all cases of cervical cancer. An understanding of the HPV genome has allowed the development of two prophylactic vaccines capable of protecting against both persistent HPV infection and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) with 100% efficacy in fully vaccinated women. The vaccines, manufactured by Merck (Gardasil, which was approved by the US FDA in June, 2006) and GlaxoSmithKline (Cervarix, which will be submitted for US FDA approval by the end of 2006), both target HPV types 16 and 18, which together account for 70% of cervical cancer. Merck vaccine also targets HPV 6 and 11, covering =90% of genital warts. These vaccines are highly immunogenic and have an excellent safety profile.

In 1772, a Rev. Edward Massey, preached and published a sermon entitled The Dangerous and Sinful Practice of Inoculation. In this he declared that Job's distemper was probably confluent smallpox; that he had been inoculated doubtless by the devil; that diseases are sent by Providence for the punishment of sin; and that the proposed attempt to prevent them is ``a diabolical operation.''

We need not be like Muslims and start falling back on such archaic views.

[Overtaxed]

At the least it should be tested further,

Isn't that what this mandatory vaccination's all about?

[retMD]

Further testing is good - there are ongoing trials. I'd take anything from the NVIC with a very large grain of salt. They're still pushing the autism/mmr link. The scientific evidence didn't support it, and the recent study from Japan has pretty much put that one to rest. From the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia newsletter: '"Not only is there no evidence that it causes autism, there's evidence that it doesn't cause autism," Dr. Offit says." In fact, there have been 14 studies that show your risk of getting autism isn't any different if you got the MMR vaccine or if you didn't." '

The NVIC appears to confuse association with causation. The VAERS system if very clear that it collects every report, without distinguishing the two. The data is then further analyzed by the CDC. I'll believe the CDC over the NVIC.

This is not to say I believe Merck on everything - I don't, and have my beefs with the pharmaceutical industry. But to equate Vioxx and Gardasil is a little silly. Are you advising people to stop taking Singulair or Zocor because they are Merck products?