Shannon Adair 10/27/2013
BIOL-1090-F13-BAKER
• On the Yes side:
1. Summarize the major thesis.
Genital human papillomavirus (also called HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are more than 40 types of HPV. HPV can cause serious health problems, including genital warts and certain cancers. Anyone who is having (or has ever had) sex can get HPV.
2. Briefly explain the philosophical principles of beneficence/nonmaleficence, autonomy, and justice as applied to the YES position of this debate.
At this time there is no treatment for the virus. In some cases there are individual treatments for the symptoms. But vacating can prevent the virus in the first place. “Roughly 79 million Americans currently have HPV. About 14 million people become newly infected each year. HPV is so common that nearly all sexually-active men and women will get at least one type of HPV at some point in their lives”.- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; July 25, 2013; http://www.cdc.gov/std/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm;
3. Briefly state in your own words three facts presented by the author about mandatory vaccination programs.
Some of the facts that the author states were that most people that are infected don’t realize they are infected. And that they are passing HPV to their sex partner. Also that “Every year, about 12,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 4,000 women die from this disease in the U.S. “And that “About 21,000 of these cancers are potentially preventable by HPV vaccines.- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; July 25, 2013; http://www.cdc.gov/std/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm;
4. Briefly state in your own words two opinions of the author presented in this article.
In these articles the authors were very factual, they didn’t input to much opinions that I picked on. It is very apparent that they are for the options of mandatory vaccinations due to the facts that they stated. They didn’t address much at all anything to the contrary of what they were stating.
5. State two scientific concerns about mandating the HPV vaccine and the position of this author on those two concerns.
Some of the concerns are that there is no treatment for the virus itself. And that people are dying that get this virus. The authors talk about how “Every year, about 12,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 4,000 women die from this disease in the U.S.” And the suffering is great.
6. What cause/effect relationships were stated or implied by the author? (What are some consequences of the author’s point-of-view on this issue?)
The authors addressed that there are ways to prevent health problems caused by HPV they can ; get a vaccine , they need to have routine screening like pap smears yearly, they should avoid tobacco and limit their alcohol intake and they need to use condoms all the time and in the right way. The authors also talked about treatments of the differed health problems if a person does get HPV, again there isn’t a treatment for the virus itself but for some of the individual symptoms there are some treatments like: Genital warts can be treated by a doctor, Cervical cancer is most treatable when it is diagnosed and treated early By a doctor, Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) can be treated with surgery or medicines.
• On the No side:
7. Summarize the major thesis.
Required human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination of young girls has been suggested. A program such as this would take away rights from the parents and guardians and give those rights to the government.
8. State and briefly describe the 3 prongs of evidence these authors use to approach this issue.
They use the example of the 1950’s outbreak of polio, and how more than 58 000 cases of polio were reported, including 21 000 cases of paralytic polio and more than 3000 deaths. Terrified parents. So they enacted the 1905 Supreme Court ruling that stated that Compulsory vaccination of children for polio “such reasonable regulations [to] protect the public health and public safety” as long as such efforts did not “contravene the Constitution of the United States, nor infringe any right guaranteed or secured by the instrument.” consequently, the Court set a model for allowing compulsory vaccination programs to control epidemics and prevent the spread of infections.
– Bayer R, Moreno JD. Health promotion: ethical and social dilemmas of government policy. : Bayer R, Gostin LO, Jennings B, Steinbock B, editors. , eds Public Health Ethics: Theory, Policy, and Practice New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2007:105–116.
Another “prong” to the authors approach would be the use of government control over individual choice, In other words, is the utility and good of a compulsory vaccine in preventing harm greater than the utility and good of preserving individual liberty and choice? Polio is not the only disease for which mandatory vaccination has been successful and publicly accepted. Vaccination is required for measles and several other diseases.
9. Briefly state in your own words three facts presented by the authors about mandatory vaccination programs.
The author states facts about how many women are infected in the United States each year and that it’s about 6.2 million new cases each year. And that in recent studies they have estimated that 1 in 4 women ages 14- 59 are infected with HPV and in some cases that can transform into cervical cancer. There are concerns that the vaccine was tested on only about 1,100 girls. The people that are concerned ate worried that there isn’t enough data to support the vaccine’s safety.
10. Briefly state in your own words two opinions of the authors presented in this article.11. Are the authors actually saying “No” to use of the HPV vaccine in teenage girls? Support your answer.
I’m not seeing that the author of this article is truly saying no to the use of HPV vaccine. As I read this article I feel more that the author wants us to do our own research and to think critically about our decisions individually and not just allow big brother to make out decisions for us. So, no, I don’t think that the author is out right saying no to all mandatory vaccinations. Because he makes statements like how “in the United States, it is common to use vaccinations to reduce disease, including mandatory vaccinations for diseases such as measles and polio that have relatively low incidence rates for serious harm.”
The author does also point out that there are differences in some cases like with HPV infections. That in this case the vaccination is being suggested as prevention to cancer and genital warts. And in this case these are related to a person’s sexual behavior at which then raises moral and social concerns.
12. What cause/effect relationships were stated or implied by the authors? (What are some consequences of the authors’ points-of-view on this issue?) Make sure to include the issue of the potential liberal “opt-out” policy.
Some concerns about the vaccine and it effectiveness are: that the vaccine doesn’t provide enough protection. There are several strains of the disease, The vaccine is fairly new, people have also questioned the long-term side effects, and People also question the data because the vaccine was only tested on about 1100 girls.
The author does also points out that Mandates make certain that the funds are there to pay for vaccinations. And that the mandates still allow people to opt out if they don’t want their child vaccinated.
• Overall:
13. Which author (YES or NO) impressed you as being the most evidence-based in presenting his or their thesis? Why? Are there any reasons to believe the writers are biased? If so, why do they have these biases?
I find myself agreeing with the “against the minatory vaccination” mainly for the same reasoning behind the author writing the article to begin with. I have a hard time having the government telling me what I have to do and when I have to do it by. The articles that were the “for mandatory vaccinations” I felt just didn’t have the scientific backing like the other article. Yes, they were factual but they did show both sides like I felt the other article did.
14. Which side (Yes or No) do you personally feel is most correct now that you have reviewed the materials in these articles? Why?
I feel that the vaccination is needed but I don’t feel that it should be mandatory at this time. I guess that if it does become a true academic then I might feel differently. But for now I believe that there is no reason in the world why this should be mandatory. Regular pap smears will do more for women in preventing cervical cancer than a vaccine.
15. What about the HPV vaccine being mandatory for teenage boys? Apply what you have learned from the reading in your argument here.
As for boys I feel that if it’s mandatory for girls then it should also be the same for boys. If we are going to force girls to be vaccinated then why wouldn’t we do the same for boys? They are the one that the girls are having sex with (for the most part)
16. Apply your reasoning based on your reading on this issue to the potential of a mandatory, annual influenza (flu) shot for all healthy individuals between the ages of 6 months to 65 years. If needed, some basic information on the flu shot can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm.
I feel the same with the flu shot as I do with any mandatory vaccinations. I do understand that as of now the flu shot is not mandatory to everyone but at my work it is mandatory if I don’t get the flu shot I will be fired. My belief is that the flu shot is only as good as the educated guesses of a group of vaccine researchers. Every year they try to predict which flu viruses will show up this year. So, in this care I really have issues with the effeteness of the shot.
