[Larry_OHF]

Okay...I did my homework so I could understand more about this topic before trying to continue with something I did not understand.

HPV INFECTION: Cervical infection with HPV is the primary risk factor for cervical cancer. There are over 80 types of human papillomavirus (HPV). Approximately 30 types are transmitted sexually (passed from one person to another by sexual contact) and can infect the cervix. About half of these have been linked to cervical cancer. However, HPV infection is very common and only a very small number of women infected with untreated HPV will develop cervical cancer. A vaccine to prevent a common type of HPV infection is under study. SEXUAL HISTORY: HPV infections that cause cervical cancer are spread mainly through sexual contact. Women who begin having sexual intercourse at an early age and women who have had many sexual partners are at a greater risk of HPV infection and developing cervical cancer. Some methods used to prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) reduce the risk of cervical cancer. The use of barrier methods of birth control and/or gels that kill sperm offer some protection but do not completely protect against STDs. USE OF ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES: Long-term use of oral contraceptives (5 years or more) increases the risk of cervical cancer. SMOKING: Cigarette smoking is associated with an increased risk of cervical cancer.

Source: WEBMD.com

Okay, now I see that the cancer comes from that HPV infection, and that the best way to get that infection is with sexual contact with an infected partner. However, it seems that not everybody that has the infection gets the cancer. Also, it appears that regular trips to the OB-GYN is an effective way to prevent the virus from killing anyone with the cancer.

So to bring it back to questions...does this vaccine prevent "all" types of the virus infection, even the non-sexual ones, or is this vaccine only good to prevent against the most commonly occurring version?

Is this a problem that other countries will be addressing now that there is a vaccine or is the world waiting to see if this vaccine is potentially deadly to a person's health in the long term first? (Since this is a new vaccine, who's to say that not every girl that gets it runs the risk of 1 in 5 developing some kind of problem or negative reaction to the drug?)

My new main point...it was too early to assume that this drug was safe for everybody to be forced into using it when we don't know what the long term looks like yet.

Remember this...Merck has really screwed up in the past. The last recall of a drug that was found hazardous to a person's life was a Merck drug. The FDA let something go through without checking it out well enough, and people died!