The American Academy of Pediatrics refutes Michelle Bachmann's anti-Gardasil claims
Here’s a response to Michele Bachmann’s claim that Gardasil, the HPV vaccine, can cause mental retardation. I’m pasting their release in its entirety so I can bold for emphasis.
The American Academy of Pediatrics would like to correct false statements made in the Republican presidential campaign that HPV vaccine is dangerous and can cause mental retardation. There is absolutely no scientific validity to this statement. Since the vaccine has been introduced, more than 35 million doses have been administered, and it has an excellent safety record.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Academy of Family Physicians all recommend that girls receive HPV vaccine around age 11 or 12. That’s because this is the age at which the vaccine produces the best immune response in the body, and because it’s important to protect girls well before the onset of sexual activity. In the U.S., about 6 million people, including teens, become infected with HPV each year, and 4,000 women die from cervical cancer. This is a life-saving vaccine that can protect girls from cervical cancer.
Before anyone wants to claim they are not speaking to Bachmann directly, I’d like to remind folks that she’s the only one making the claim that it causes mental retardation.
This is one of the few things, if not the only thing, Rick Perry has done right as governor as Texas. Opponents have this idea that if young girls get the vaccine, they’ll suddenly become sexually active. This assumes that parents are telling girls they are getting a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer caused by a form of an STD and this means they can have all the unprotected sex they want. I’m 100% sure that’s not the case. Parents are also able to opt out of the vaccine requirement if they wish.
To me, Bachmann’s statement is cruel and reckless. Often, women don’t know they have HPV because they display no symptoms - same with men. It’s estimated that by age 50, 80% of women will have contracted HPV, and nearly all cases of cervical cancer are linked to persistent infection with the virus. Bachmann is in favor of jettisoning a measure to prevent a form of cancer simply to score political points.
She belongs with the crowd cheering the deaths of uninsured, because those “innocent little girls” she’s so worried about would see their chances of developing a deadly cancer skyrocket - just so she could outdo her opponents. If that’s not heartless, I don’t know what would be heartless.
Once again I have to simply shake my head and chuckle that anyone expects either the truth or any semblance of rationality from Michelle Bachmann! How many times, like Palin, does this moron have to prove she’s just bat-shit fucking crazy?!
