Hpv

As GOP presidential candidates tussle over the latest issue to split the field — oddly enough, it's the rather obscure question of whether states should mandate vaccinating girls against a sexually transmitted virus — it's hard to tell which one ends up looking worst. But our vote goes to Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, whose rumor-mongering rampage against a safe and effective vaccine could discourage parents from protecting their daughters against cancer. During Monday's debate, Bachmann and former Sen. Rick Santorum lashed out at Texas Gov. Rick Perry over his 2007 executive order that Texas schoolgirls had to be vaccinated against human papillomavirus (the order was later overturned by the state legislature)

A reinvigorated Michele Bachmann continued her assault on Rick Perry on Tuesday morning, accusing the Texas governor and rival GOP presidential candidate of “crony capitalism” in connection with his state's program requiring the vaccination of young girls against human papillomavirus. She had some help from Sarah Palin, who told Fox News that she supported Bachmann's efforts Bachmann's criticism of Perry on Monday night at the CNN/Tea Party Express GOP presidential debate provided one of the debate's true fiery moments.

The HPV vaccine, which protects women against the human papilloma virus, is in the news once again, thanks to the recent GOP debate in which presidential candidate Michele Bachmann criticized Texas Gov. Rick Perry's proposed mandate of the vaccine and called it "...what potentially could be a very dangerous drug. " But that's not how most mainstream medical organizations in the U.S. see the HPV vaccine, approved in 2006 to prevent the spread of the virus, which can cause genital warts and may lead to cervical cancer.

Rep. Michele Bachmann's new line of attack against GOP frontrunner Gov. Rick Perry -- launched Monday night at the CNN/Tea Party Express debate and continued on Tuesday's morning talk shows -- pins the Texas governor's ties to a pharmaceutical giant as the reason for his controversial decision to require the HPV vaccine for Texas schoolgirls. “The drug company gave thousands of dollars in political donations to the governor, and this is just flat-out wrong,” Bachmann asserted in Monday night's debate.

A 2007 executive order by Texas Gov. Rick Perry has become the latest post-debate headache for the Republican presidential front-runner, who was accused of "crony capitalism" Tuesday by Rep. Michele Bachmann. The fight over requiring vaccinations for young girls — which surfaced in Monday's Florida debate — involved government prerogatives and cancer. But it also had a strong moral subtext: Bachmann and other social conservatives objected to forcible inoculations against a disease spread by sexual activity, while Perry defended himself with the language of the antiabortion movement.

Sensing vulnerability, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum went after Rick Perry - hard - on his order, while governor of Texas, to force young girls to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus. In doing so, they sparked the sharpest exchange of the debate so far. During the CNN/Tea Party Express debate in Tampa, Bachmann also accused Perry of favoring a large pharamceutical company, Merck, in pushing the program. Perry said he made a mistake is issuing an executive order forcing the vaccinations, but he said he erred on the side of trying to prevent a deadly cancer.

The HPV vaccine, approved in 2006, requires three shots over a six-month period -- a regimen that is inconvenient and costly. But a new study shows a two-dose vaccine may work as well. The vaccine prevents infection from certain strains of the human papilloma virus, which can cause cervical cancer. It is considered revolutionary because it's the first vaccine to prevent a type of cancer. (It was even a topic of Wednesday night's Republican presidential candidates' debate because of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's proposal to mandate the vaccine in his state.)

Popular fears about vaccines -- including the belief that the measles, mumps and rubella shot causes autism -- are unfounded, a study released Thursday by the Institute of Medicine reported. But another report released Thursday, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, noted with some alarm that many parents still shun another recommended vaccine: the three-shot series that protects against human papilloma virus (HPV), a widespread sexually transmitted virus, some types of which can cause cervical cancer.

In a move hailed by planned-parenting groups and opposed by some religious organizations, health insurance companies will be required to provide women free birth control, in keeping with new Obama administration guidelines. The rules, called "historic" by the Department of Health and Human Services, also say that insurance companies must provide women with other preventive services free of charge. Monday's new quidelines follow the recent advice from an independent panel of doctors and health experts at the Institute of Medicine, which recommended last month that all approved contraception methods -- including the "morning-after pill" -- be provided without requiring co-pays.

Women 30 and older who've been told they can safely wait three years between cervical cancer screenings can relax. Such advice appears to be true for those who've had normal Pap smears and negative human papillomavirus (HPV) test results. A new study of more than 300,000 women confirms current guidelines that say women don't need to be screened every year for the disease. The study also suggests that the HPV test alone might be better at assessing future risk of cervical cancer than a Pap smear alone -- and almost as accurate as combining the two screenings.