Wisconsin is among several states now considering mandating that students get the HPV vaccine Gardasil, which was approved by the Food and Drug Association in June. Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued an executive order Friday that requires girls to get the vaccine.,”
All girls entering sixth grade in Wisconsin would be required to get a human papillomavirus vaccine if a new bill is passed.
Wisconsin is among several states now considering mandating that students get the HPV vaccine Gardasil, which was approved by the Food and Drug Association in June. Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued an executive order Friday that requires girls to get the vaccine.
Marquette's Student Health Service began offering the HPV vaccine at the beginning of the second semester in January.
HPV is the leading cause of cervical cancer among women – 99.7 percent of cases are linked to HPV, according to a release from State Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee), who is co-sponsoring the Wisconsin legislation.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended that 11- and 12-year-old girls get the vaccine. The FDA approved the vaccine, manufactured by Merck & Co., for females between ages 9 and 26.
HPV is transmitted through genital or skin-to-skin contact. Since there is no cure for HPV once it has been transmitted through sexual contact, the vaccine would need to be administered before a person becomes sexually active.
The thought that some sixth graders are having, or will soon be having, sex is the reason why some groups are opposed to the state mandating that girls get the vaccine.
Parents would have the right to refuse vaccination under the bill. Currently, the state requires immunizations for eight different viruses. Parents can opt out from having their children receive any vaccination for health, religious or personal reasons, according to Claire Smith, spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services.
Kristin Haglund, an assistant nursing professor, said the state requires vaccinations for school entry, but that children do not have to get shots. Parents can mark a spot on medical forms if they do not want their child to get a particular vaccine, she said.
Gardasil is administered in three shots over the course of six months and costs a total of $360. The vaccine would be covered under the CDC's Vaccines for Children program, which contracted the price at $96 per shot – $288 total.
According to Alex Parets, a Student Health Service receptionist and junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, Student Health Service is charging $122 per shot for undergraduates. Graduate students pay $125 per shot.
Under the federally funded VFC program, vaccinations are provided to underinsured children free of charge. Fifty of the 55 VFC "projects" have ordered Gardasil since it was first added to the program in November 2006, according to Merck spokesman Chris Loder. VFC projects include all 50 states and five major cities.
Loder also said that Gardasil will be provided free of charge to underinsured adults under the company's Vaccine Patient Assistance Program. The state of Washington announced Monday that it would offer the vaccine for free, though it hasn't mandated all girls should get it.
Approximately 20 states are looking at legislation similar to Wisconsin's, according to Taylor's press release.
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