Advertisements and commercials with the slogan “One Less” fill television screens and women’s magazines, but on campus, students are less conscious of the vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV), a disease that can cause cervical cancer.
“I’m glad they are trying to make us more aware through commercials,” said sophomore nursing major Elaine Park. “Besides that, though, I haven’t heard anything about it.”
Many students do not know the benefits of the new HPV vaccine for women, Gardasil, let alone that it is available on campus through Student Health Services (SHS).
According to a press release from Merck & Co. Inc, the company that markets Gardasil, the vaccine protects against four types of HPV. Two of them are considered low-risk and cause virtually all incidents of genital warts. The other two, types 16 and 18, are high-risk and cause 70 percent of cervical cancer cases.
According to Merck & Co., Inc., about 10,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year. Gardasil is recommended for girls and young women ages nine to 26. It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in June 2006.
Gardasil cannot give patients HPV because the vaccine is made from yeast rather than the actual virus, said Nop Ratanasiripong, assistant director of SHS, who worked on the clinical trial studies.
Because the vaccine is a preventative measure and does not treat genital warts or cancer, Ratanasiripong said she recommends the vaccine for women who are not sexually active. However, those who are sexually active or have had a type of HPV still benefit because it protects them from other types of HPV they have not yet contracted.
“It depends case by case,” Ratanasiripong said.
Students who want to get Gardasil through SHS must speak to a nurse beforehand because effectiveness depends on sexual history and pap test results. SHS charges $123 for the dose and like all other services there, the appointment is free. Depending on the doctor and the patient’s insurance, it may cost more off campus.
The vaccine is administered in three injections: one initially, the second after two months and the third six months after the first shot. The mildest side effects are pain, itchiness, swelling and redness at the injection site. The most severe are cases of fever, flu, body aches or severe headaches.
Junior biology major Matt Blanchette said he believes it is important to have the vaccine available due to the high number of sexually active college students. Although he is, like many students, uninformed about it, Blanchette said a preventative foundation like Gardasil can probably help protect students.
Park said she considers the vaccine unnecessary for abstinent women, especially students who are not sexually active and may not want to spend so much money on something that is not an immediate threat. To her, the vaccine is worth it for women who are about to or are starting to become sexually active, much like the birth control pill.
She said she has not taken and does not plan to get the vaccine right now but that it affects her regardless.
Park said she knows something about the vaccine and can spread the word to friends, but that “a little more awareness would be helpful.”
