He was walking one day and days later he couldn't and had to be hospitalized to
receive an iron lung treatment. My parents were devastated and would have
traded places with my brother if it had been possible. But as devastated as my
parents were, can you imagine how distressed and guilty they would have felt if
their doctor had told them that their son's paralysis could have been prevented
if they had vaccinated him against polio.
Today's parents face a similar dilemma about deciding whether they should
vaccinate their daughters against human papillomavirus infections. The threat
of HPV and cervical cancer is real. The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention states that about 6.2 million new cases of the HPV infections are
reported yearly and 20 million people in the United States already had HPV in
2005.
However, some parents resist having their children vaccinated against HPV
infections because of their own discomfort in talking about sex with their
children, interests in promoting values that forbid premarital sexual
relationships, utopian beliefs about wanting generations of youth who practice
abstinence, and believing that an effective HPV vaccine will promote sex and
harm family-centered values. Parental beliefs such as these should be
respected, but not at the expense of creating inaccurate information and false
hopes about sexual behaviors, and certainly not at the expense of failing to
reduce a preventable disease that causes harm and potential death.
Nationwide studies report that by the time teenagers graduate from high school,
more than 46 percent will have had sexual intercourse and that by the age of
20, 75 percent of young people have had premarital sex. It would be wrong to
ignore this reality and it would be worse to needlessly sacrifice the lives of
real people to uphold utopian beliefs.
Exposing children to a less-than-perfect vaccination that provides protection
against common types of HPV, which are responsible for 70 percent of cervical
cancers and 90 percent of genital warts, is better than creating an imaginary
world that one doesn't live in. Besides, vaccinations don't cause increases in
sexual activity; vaccinations prevent diseases. Parents, with or without a HPV
vaccine, can conduct discussions with their children about human sexuality
issues and family values. However, without a HPV vaccine, parents will lose a
valuable tool in preventing harm to their sexually active children. I suggest
that today's generation of parents consider utilizing both good acts of talking
to their children about sex and vaccinating their children against HPV
infections. These acts can co-exist and offer the best protections against
disease.
