The Facts About Gardasil

1. The Facts About Gardasil By Andrew Coldrick

2. The advert • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmyhLg9Fbis

3. What is Gardasil? • Gardasil is a vaccine that was officially approved by the Food and Drug Administration on June 8th, 2006. It is administered through injection and distributed by the Merck pharmaceutical corporation. The cost for one dose is around $120 and the cost for all 3 is around $360 • The Gardasil virus is designed for the use in preventing certain types of the human papillomavirus • The types of cervical cancer that Gardasil is designed to protect against causes approximately 70% of types of cervical cancer and 90% of genital warts. • However, it does not deal with all forms of cervical cancer, and this is one of the reasons why the vaccine is so controversial

4. How Gardasil Works • Gardasil, like all vaccines, is essentially a weakened version of the virus injected into the body in order to build up immunity to it • The vaccine builds up proteins similar to the ones created by the virus, but instead of harming the body, they work as antibodies that go into action if the HPV virus is found to be present in the body • The vaccine works due to the fact that it contains the viral proteins from HPV types 16, 18, 6, 11. This is designed to protect against infection from these types of the HPV virus, which make up the majority of HPV viruses that come about through sexual contact • In order for it to be truly effective, it has to be administered in three different doses over the course of six months

5. What is HPV? • HPV, or genital human papillomavirus, is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the United States, with more than half of sexually active men and women getting infected with the virus at some point in their lives • About 20 million Americans are current infected, and about 6 million get infected each year • The condition is usually spread via sexual contact • Most of the time, HPV doesn’t cause any noticable symptoms, but it can lead to cervical cancer in some women, which is the 2nd leading form of cancer amongst women in the world • Vaginal and vulvar cancers are also thought to be caused by the HPV virus • There is no cure for HPV infection, but some of the problems that it causes can be treated

6. Benefits of Gardasil • The Gardasil virus can prevent most forms of cervical cancer in females • Protection from HPV after receiving the virus is considered to be long-lasting • As well as protecting from cervical cancer, it can also prevent vaginal and vulvar cancer in females, and genital warts in both males and females

7. Side Effects • The Gardasil virus is noted for its side effects, some more serious than others, and these are a major point of contention that people have with the vaccine • Most of these side effects occur soon after injection, and are usually mild, such as headaches, dizziness, and nausea • There are however, more serious side effects, such as fainting, bruising, and severe allergic reaction, effects which have been publicized by opponents of the vaccine

8. Controversy • The Gardasil vaccine is controversial for a number of reasons. These reasons include health concerns, moral concerns, and concerns regarding potential forced vaccinations • Gardasil does have numerous side effects. Some of the less harmful side effects include pain, headaches, fever, nausea, and dizziness. Some of the more harmful side effects include fainting, swollen glands, bleeding and bruising, as well as fainting • Many religious and social conservatives view Gardasil as a vaccine that could potentially encourage young women to be promiscuous, and thus consider Gardasil to be immoral • The fact that Merck is lobbying on behalf of forced Gardasil vaccinations for girls is also a major point of contention. In 2007, Texas Governor Rick Perry passed an executive order mandating all teenage girls in his state get injected with Gardasil was later rescinded over mass opposition

9. In Conclusion • Gardasil is a vaccine that has its share of benefits and drawbacks, the latter, of course, being the things that are frequently debated and discussed by the media • The advert, produced and paid for by Merck, is of course going to focus on the positive aspects of the drug. This particular ad portrays the drug as something liberating and emancipating for women, with wise mothers and female mentors bonding with their daughters, and informing the viewer on their decision to get their daughters and themselves vaccinated • This is advertising catered to a key and a targeted demographic. This is something that all advertisers do frequently in order to better sell their product. Prescription drug advertising is controversial, only being legal in the US and New Zealand, and there are greater restrictions on such advertising than for other products • In summary, Gardasil has the potential to benefit many people, but concerns need to be addressed and acted on before use of this vaccine becomes more wide-spread