Adults can make informed decisions about their own medical care

Adults can make informed decisions about their own medical care. However, young children are not able to make complex decisions for themselves, so the authority to make medical decisions on behalf of a child usually falls to the child’s parents. Some of these choices have long-lasting repercussions that cannot be undone later in life.

Whether or not to vaccinate against preventable diseases is one such decision parents will face. Supported by high-quality medical and scientific evidence, vaccines are one of the most significant achievements of medical science and public health. Deaths due to vaccine-preventable diseases, including smallpox, polio, measles, diphtheria, pertussis, and others, have declined dramatically.

Debunking popular misconceptions about every vaccine is beyond the scope of this article. Instead, my focus is on the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, one of the most heavily-scrutinized vaccines of all time, and one of the safest. It is also an essential vaccine that can help prevent six different cancers which may develop much later in life.

For the nearly 80 million people—about one in four—currently infected in the United States, HPV often goes away on its own. But a small group of people will experience health problems—sometimes even 20 or 30 years after the initial contact. In these individuals, HPV can cause changes in the body that can lead to the development of:

• Cervical, vaginal and vulvar cancer in women;
• Penile cancer in men; and
• Oropharyngeal (the tongue, tonsils, and back of the throat) and anal/rectal cancer in both women and men.

Unlike HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) spread via bodily fluids, human papillomaviruses reside in certain skin cells found in the moist surfaces (called mucosal surfaces) of areas such as the vagina, anus, cervix, vulva, inner foreskin and urethra of the penis, inner nose, mouth, throat, and the inner eyelids.

HPV is transmitted by direct contact with an infected person, usually sexual, but can occur following nonpenetrative sexual activity—which even includes kissing. While condoms are highly effective in preventing HIV and other STDs transmitted through bodily fluids, they provide less protection against STDs spread through skin-to-skin contact like HPV.

Celebrities, charlatans, homeopaths and other people who are entirely unqualified to advise on medical issues promote genuinely heartbreaking images and stories of teenagers suffering paralysis, bodily pain, convulsions, and even death, which they attribute to autoimmune disorders directly caused by HPV vaccination. It’s a natural claim to make. After all, a vaccine, by its nature, is designed to provoke an immune response.

Sadly, autoimmune disorders are pervasive and affect ∼8% of the population, the vast majority (78%) of whom are women. These occur when the immune system goes awry and mistakenly attacks healthy parts of the body rather than infectious invaders such as bacteria and viruses.

Scientists believe that sex hormones may play a role, as many autoimmune disorders occur in women soon after puberty. Some examples include systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus), postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), Guillain-Barré syndrome, and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). My heart breaks for anyone affected by these terrible diseases, especially children.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that BOTH girls and boys begin getting the HPV vaccine series at age 11 or 12. This is because the vaccine produces a better immune response at this age than during the teenage years. For the HPV vaccine to work best, it is also essential to administer prior to coming into contact with the virus. That’s why the vaccine is recommended for children before they grow up and start kissing or become sexually active.

Because autoimmune disorders are more common in women and begin to appear around the age that they receive the HPV vaccine, the potential to use autoimmune disorders to discredit the vaccine is high. In statistics, when two variables are found to be correlated, it is tempting to assume that one variable causes the other. However, this is a perfect example that correlation does not imply causation.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), since licensure in 2006, over 270 million doses of the HPV vaccine have been distributed worldwide, with many countries monitoring vaccine safety post-licensure. A 2017 report by the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) concluded that HPV vaccines are extremely safe and found no evidence to suggest a causal association between HPV vaccine and CRPS, POTS or the diverse symptoms that include pain and motor dysfunction.

Why am I so passionate about HPV vaccination? Because I was diagnosed with Stage IV oropharyngeal (head and neck) cancer caused by HPV in December 2015 at the age of 47. After undergoing aggressive chemoradiation treatment, I was cancer-free for six months. Then, in December 2016, doctors discovered distant metastasis (spread) in both of my lungs. Recurrence of this disease is often lethal—no effective treatment exists.

Had the HPV vaccine been available when I was a preteen, I could have been spared a terminal disease and the numerous toxicities of cancer treatment. Parents, I beg you—please vaccinate your children against HPV. Believe in high-quality medical and scientific evidence, not social media anecdotes. Instead of speaking to well-meaning relatives and friends, talk to a knowledgeable pediatrician about the HPV vaccine and make an informed decision. Follow Australia’s example, where the HPV vaccination program is so successful that within 10 years, it is expected that no women will develop cervical cancer there. In doing so, we can eliminate high-risk HPV and the resulting six cancers.