Kelly Brooks didn’t hesitate when her mother called to tell her she should get the vaccine to protect against cervical cancer.
“As soon as the news came out, she was all over it,” said Brooks, 24.
Brooks, a graduate student at the University of Maryland, College Park, had heard of the vaccine Gardasil. She knew it can help prevent the human papilloma virus, which can lead to genital warts and cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancers.
And she also was aware of some of the reports circulating about potential serious side effects from the vaccine.
“I wasn’t overly concerned about it,” said Brooks, adding she was reassured by the federal government’s approval. “I’m glad my mom implored me to do it.”
More than two years after Gardasil was approved, local physicians are strongly recommending the vaccine, and droves of girls and women are opting for it.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this month reiterated the safety of the vaccine, which is approved for girls and women ages 9 to 26, and manufacturer Merck and Co. wants to expand use to women up to 45 years old.
“Some people are concerned because it’s new, but it has been out a couple years now, and most people are pretty willing to do what it takes to get their daughters protected,” said Dr. Christine Vergara, head of the adolescent gynecology program at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore.
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease and can be spread by skin-to-skin contact.
The vaccine — which is the first designed to prevent cancer — is most effective when taken before exposure. The inoculation is recommended for girls ages 11 to 12, and is given in three shots over six months.
Each year, about 12,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and nearly 4,000 die from the disease in the United States, according to the CDC.
Controversy has surrounded Gardasil since its approval in June 2006.
The National Vaccine Information Center, a vaccine watchdog group, last week questioned Merck’s data and said federal officials were denying the risks.
“The proper studies haven’t been done,” said Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the center.
As of Aug. 31, there have been 10,326 reports of adverse events following Gardasil nationwide, according to the CDC, 94 percent of which were minor, such as fainting, swelling at the injection site and headache.
More serious reports include Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare disorder that causes muscle weakness, blood clots — and even 27 deaths among women who received the vaccine.
But CDC officials said there was no pattern suggesting Gardasil was to blame.
There are risks involved with any immunization, but physicians haven’t effectively communicated the benefits of the vaccine, said Dr. Dan Levy, a pediatrician and past president of the Maryland chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“People really listen and put a lot of faith in what pediatricians say,” said Levy, who called some of the claims connecting the vaccine to serious adverse events “ridiculous.”
Many of the fears seem to be easing as the drug becomes more mainstream, said Dr. Betty Chou, a clinician at Johns Hopkins Bayview and Odenton campuses.
“The biggest concern,” she said, “is they just don’t want to have three shots.”
FIGHTING HPV
About 20 million people in the United States are infected with human papilloma virus (HPV), and 6.2 million more get infected each year.
In 2004, 11,892 U.S. women were diagnosed with cervical cancer, and 3,850 died from the disease.
The Gardasil vaccine was studied in seven clinical trials before it was licensed, which included more than 21,000 girls and women ages 9 to 26.
Merck has distributed more than 36 million doses of Gardasil worldwide, with more than 20 million in the United States, since its approval in June 2006.
Twenty-five percent of girls ages 13 to 17 started the three-dose vaccine series in 2007.
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Merck and Co.
