HPV vaccine doesn’t promote promiscuity

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 14:40:00 +0000

A new study should put to bed arguments that vaccinating young people against common HPV strains promotes promiscuity. Research published Monday in the journal Pediatrics found no correlation between vaccination and sexual behavior.

As the New York Times reported, "Looking at a sample of nearly 1,400 girls, the researchers found no evidence that those who were vaccinated beginning around age 11 went on to engage in more sexual activity than girls who were not vaccinated."

HPV -- in its main thousand strains -- is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the U.S.; one-third of 14- to 19-year-olds are carriers. "Federal health officials began recommending in 2006 that girls be vaccinated as early as age 11 and last year made a similar recommendation for preadolescent boys. The idea is to immunize boys and girls before they become sexually active to maximize the vaccine’s protective effects," the Times reported.

Will Olympics spread measles?

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 15:50:00 +0000

In our post 9/11 world, events like the Olympics carry the extra burden of keeping spectators safe from acts of violence. Visitors to London will no doubt see police toting submachine guns and be captured by surveillance cameras at every turn. While anti-terrorism has dominated conversations on the eve of the games, there’s a less-discussed hazard for travelers -- and the rest of us. In 2011, Europe reported over 30,000 cases of measles. Third-world levels of infection on a first-world continent are worrisome. It’s worth considering whether folks stepping foot in Great Britain should carry a copy of their vaccine records with their passport to earn safe passage into the country.

We don’t know how many measles cases were due to parents who refused to vaccinate their kids. We do know that the cases can be attributed to broad swaths of people who are not vaccinated against measles. We also know that the bogus claim that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR) causes autism got its start in Europe. Most important, we know that the world is flat: 2011 also saw the largest outbreak of measles in the U.S. since the mid-1990s. Over 90 percent of our cases were imported here from locations around the world. Some of those cases were, unfortunately, kids who were too young to receive either one or both doses of the MMR vaccine. But of those infected kids who could get the vaccine, three out of four did not because their parents refused it.

Salon.com > Vaccinations

HPV vaccine doesn’t promote promiscuity

Will Olympics spread measles?