Women avoid vaccine that could save their lives

Many young women who might have a flu vaccine will avoid another kind of vaccine that could save their lives.  What is that vaccine and why are young women avoiding having it.

With the complexities of cervical cancer, and the fact that many women die of it, young women still avoid a vaccine that can help prevent it.

This is in spite of the research and reporting that underlines the seriousness of cervical cancer and the need for the vaccine.

Furthermore many of the mothers of young women do not encourage their daughters to have the vaccine either.

Florida researchers wonder about this because human papillomavirus (HPV) can

lead to cancer.  It is the most common sexually transmitted disease in
the United States.

Since 2007, there have been at least two vaccines on the market capable of blocking up to 90 percent of these cancers.  Yet people are avoiding the shots.

The answers to why might be because the shots aren't cheap. HPV vaccines are generally comprised of three shots at $120 each, which can stretch the budget of the average college student, and often are not covered by insurance. Also, the vaccines are still fairly new, and there are still lots of misconceptions and unanswered questions.

"We don't even know how long they work," says Mary Gerend , who has studied college students' beliefs and motivations about Gardasil, the first HPV vaccine to appear (in 2006). Gardasil is sold by Merck Pharmaceutical (the other HPV-fighter, Cervarix, made by
GlaxoSmithKline, debuted in 2007). "So we're seeing some reluctance, and
that's understandable."

 Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control estimates that only about a third of adolescent females intend to get vaccinated for HPV; among 18-to-26 year-old women the number drops to only one in 10.

How should the message be given?  Experts tell us that focusing on the negative works best, by highlighting the rate of death and the specific risks as well.  And telling men about it has been found not to raise their consciousness about the seriousness of having a vaccine.

Like you'll die if you don't?