A new study is indicating that more than half of mothers are declining their doctors’ offers and the government’s guidelines to vaccinate their young daughters, those under 13 years, with Gardasil. The vaccine known as Gardasil offers protection for women against the human papillomavirus (HPV.) The FDA approved the Gardasil vaccine in 2006 for girls and women between the ages of 9 and 26. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease. It is the primary cause of cervical cancer. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention is currently recommending that girls between 11 and 12 years old receive the vaccine before becoming sexually active. The vaccine offers the most protection to women when administered to them before they are exposed to HPV. However, a current study indicates that many mothers are not willing to follow those vaccination recommendations.
The study, organized to measure attitudes towards the vaccine, is the first national survey conducted since its approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Jessica Kahn, an associate professor of pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, authored the study. She sees the study results as a challenge to educate mothers. It is important to vaccinate girls before there is any chance of them becoming sexually active. Most mothers, 86 percent, were willing to vaccinate their daughters that were 16 and older. Unfortunately, many of them will have already been exposed to HPV by then.
About 4000 women die from cervical cancer every year in the United States and 10,000 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed here each year. At some point in their lifetime, 25 percent of U. S. women have been infected with HPV, and 75 percent have been exposed. Some estimate that Gardasil can prevent about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases.
Dr. Kahn feels that an additional study may be required to address some reservations that mothers have. They need to ascertain if young girls who receive the vaccine think they have parental approval to become sexually active at an earlier age. Perhaps the girls will engage in riskier sexual behavior because they think they are immune. They also suggest that mothers are having a difficult time accepting that their daughters may be sexually active by 13.
Those of us adopting older children from the foster care system should be prepared to deal with sexual issues when the child is placed into our family. If you have an adopted child with a low IQ, fetal alcohol syndrome, low self-esteem, or other processing disability you should be prepared as well. Their impaired judgment, combined with a cute figure, can lead to problems in this area.
Photo Credit: 2006 Julia Fuller.