The Los Angeles Unified School District, and possibly dozens of other school districts in Los Angeles County, plan to offer female students a controversial vaccine that prevents a virus linked to cervical cancer, health officials said.
As the shots become available in the coming months, L.A. Unified officials said, female students with parental consent would be eligible to receive Gardasil, a vaccine recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration that prevents four types of the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV), two of which cause cervical cancer. Some conservative groups have expressed concern that providing the vaccine to adolescent girls would encourage them to engage in sexual behavior.
An advisory committee of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that all 11- and 12-year-old girls receive the vaccine, along with young women currently ages 13 to 18. It is generally not recommended for older women who may have already been exposed to HPV. The committee also voted to add Gardasil to its list of vaccines provided by the federal Vaccines for Children program.
Through the program, Los Angeles County distributes 16 approved vaccines for free to qualified healthcare providers, including 22 school districts, 80 nonprofit community clinics and 44 county health services sites.
Karen Maiorca, who retired two weeks ago as L.A. Unified's director of nursing services, said the vaccine would be offered each year at dozens of clinics that the district operates. The district's 600 school nurses will be responsible for spreading the word.
And though the Vaccines for Children program is designed for uninsured and underinsured children, she said, no student will be turned away.
School districts registered for the Vaccines for Children program, including L.A. Unified, Hacienda La Puente Unified and Azusa Unified, can refuse to offer the vaccine.
Lydia Estep, senior director of pupil services for the Azusa Unified School District, said district nurses would not be providing Gardasil to its students in the 2006-07 school year for a number of reasons.
"The vaccine is fairly new," Estep said. "And it's not a requirement at this time."
But Maiorca said it is L.A. Unified's policy to provide all vaccines distributed by the county.
Los Angeles school board President Marlene Canter said she sympathized with those concerned that the vaccine might promote sexual activity.
