If you only read headlines…
You might think that a vaccine for cervical cancer had been found.
Cervical cancer vaccine ‘100 percent effective’
Cervical Cancer Vaccine Is 100% Effective, According to Drugmaker Merck
Vaccine against cervical cancer ‘100% effective’
Cervical cancer vaccine found to be 100% effective
Cervical Cancer Vaccine 100% Effective
Vaccine proves 100 percent effective in preventing cervical cancer
Cervical cancer vaccine blocks 100% of cases
All of these headlines lead the reader to believe that a vaccine for cervical cancer has been found. They also lead us to believe that it can prevent 100% of all cervical cancer cases. The problem is, if you read any of these articles, a vaccine for cervical cancer has not been found, the vaccine is for two types of human papillomavirus (HPV). Of course, HPV is the cause of 70% of cervical cancer cases.
The first major study of an experimental vaccine to prevent cervical cancer found it was 100 percent effective, in the short term, at blocking the disease and lesions likely to turn cancerous, drug maker Merck & Co. said.
Gardasil, a genetically engineered vaccine, blocks infection with two of the 100-plus types of human papilloma virus, HPV 16 and 18. The two sexually transmitted viruses together cause about 70 percent of cervical cancers.
Of all the headlines I saw today, the only one that, in my opinion, was responsible and accurate was,
HPV Vaccine Prevented 100 Percent of Cervical Pre-cancers
While I understand that this vaccine will make a profound difference on the number of cervical cancer cases, I feel it was completely irresponsible for them to report this as a “cervical cancer vaccine”. Given the fact that the vaccine is actually effective in just 70% of all cervical cancer cases, 30% of those diagnosed may still die, because this vaccine will be ineffective in their treatment.
Doesn’t knowing this fact make those headlines seem a bit irresponsible?
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I already posted on this beca I already posted on this because of my experience.