Editor’s Note: The name of the patient has been changed to protect her privacy.
In 2008, a 15-year-old girl named Mary was at the doctor with her mother, sitting on the crinkly-papered table and awaiting diagnosis for a sinus infection. At the end of her appointment, the doctor brought up a new vaccine that was recommended as a preventative measure for cervical cancer.
“I don’t think she needs it,” Mary’s mother said dismissively after hearing the short pitch.
Nobody in the room expected Mary to contract the human papillomavirus (HPV) four years later.
“I didn’t think much of it then,” says Mary, now 20 years old and majoring in biology at a local university, “but I can’t help but think about it now. If I could go back, I would have gotten the shots. It changed my life when I noticed the symptoms last year.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control, HPV is the most commonly contracted sexually-transmitted infection in the United States. It is so common that most sexually active men and women will get HPV at some point in their lives, though of the 30 to 40 strains, only a handful cause symptoms.
Mary says the visit with her gynecologist was extremely helpful in her coping process, though she admits that she still feels embarrassment and anger that she never received the vaccine that could have prevented it. However, she hopes by speaking out that she can help protect others from feeling an emotional and physical pain similar to her own.
“I want kids to know about it. Not just girls, but boys too. I’m not saying the kids should be told, ‘This vaccine will protect you when you have sex,’ but, ‘This vaccine will keep you safe.’ I want parents to make sure their kids know about it,” Mary says adamantly.
“Pediatricians are the ones who should be giving it the most,” says Mercy gynecologist Christina Meddows-Jackson. “I try to catch as many as I can, but it’s the kiddos who need to get the vaccine before they’re exposed to the HPV. Some parents say, ‘Well, they’ll think they can become sexually active if they get it.’ Kids don’t care if they’ve gotten a shot or not when they decide to have sex.”
Meddows-Jackson reccomends the vaccine for all of her patients that qualify between the ages of 9 and 26 years.
“It’s a matter of patient education,” says Meddows-Jackson. “We’re the healthcare professionals; we’re the experts in the field. I think it’s our job to educate patients about it. People tell me they’ll think about it. Because it’s not required, patients have a right to refuse it, but I always remind them, ‘This is a vaccine against cancer.’”
Aside from the fear of side effects, another obstacle for the vaccine is the three-shot administration. After the first shot, patients must return two months later for the second dose, and again four months later for the third.
“Whenever there are multiple doses for anything in medicine, there’s always a question of compliance,” explains Meddows-Jackson. “You’re more likely to take every dose of an antibiotic that you take once a day versus two or three times a day. If patients miss their second or third shot, the recommendation is that you pick it up when you see them again. Studies show that the most ideal is the spacing they did in the trials, but it’s more effective to get them all than none, or just one.”
“So many people get this disease and it’s pretty easy to protect against,” explains Mary. “I mean which would you rather have: a few shots or cervical cancer?”
