Gardasil: CDC response on safety/efficacy; survey on parental support for mandates
The weekly news update from the Immunization Action Coalition alerted us to this CDC Q&A released last week titled "CDC Questions and Answers Concerning the Safety and Efficacy of Gardasil." The three-page document outlines the current status regarding safety monitoring, known safety concerns, the potential need for boosters, and the ongoing necessity of Pap screening.
It seems likely that the fact sheet was this breathless press release from JudicialWatch.org asserting (based on VAERS reports) that "three deaths were related to the vaccine." The CDC fact sheet clearly explains how and why this statement is a misinterpretation of VAERS data, reaching conclusions that are no possible from that information alone. Not surprisingly, a search of Google News suggests that the press release garnered virtually no attention from the print media. While safety concerns linked to Gardasil could still surface, there's no evidence at present to suggest such a connection.
However, the headline -- while likely shrewdly written to generate the media coverage sampled above -- is very misleading. The report's own data (Table 1 in the report) lists 26% of parents disagreeing with an HPV mandate, 44% of parents agreeing, and a very significant 30% as 'neutral.'
Therefore, the same data could also carry the headline, "76% of parents not opposed to HPV mandate," which would actually more accurately capture the large percentage of respondents with no opinion for or against a mandate.
It seems likely that the fact sheet was this breathless press release from JudicialWatch.org asserting (based on VAERS reports) that "three deaths were related to the vaccine." The CDC fact sheet clearly explains how and why this statement is a misinterpretation of VAERS data, reaching conclusions that are no possible from that information alone. Not surprisingly, a search of Google News suggests that the press release garnered virtually no attention from the print media. While safety concerns linked to Gardasil could still surface, there's no evidence at present to suggest such a connection.
However, the headline -- while likely shrewdly written to generate the media coverage sampled above -- is very misleading. The report's own data (Table 1 in the report) lists 26% of parents disagreeing with an HPV mandate, 44% of parents agreeing, and a very significant 30% as 'neutral.'
Therefore, the same data could also carry the headline, "76% of parents not opposed to HPV mandate," which would actually more accurately capture the large percentage of respondents with no opinion for or against a mandate.
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