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A new study suggests that the HPV is a good investment if it is given to women 21 years old and younger. Authors of the study, in today's New England Journal of Medicine, measured the Gardasil vaccine's value by calculating the cost of giving one person an extra healthy year of life and balancing the expense of vaccinations with the benefits of avoiding cancer, death and related expenses. You can read the article here.

Despite the findings, the HPV vaccine remains controversial. Where do you stand? Would you get the series of 3 shots, or would you insist your daughter got the shots?

I think it's a good idea.  There is no proven harm to the vaccine, so at least so far, only good can come of it.  I think that we need to stop thinking that good parenting and sound advice are always going to be enough to protect our children.  They have their own brains and they make their own decisions, not always good ones.  Having one extra thing there to help minimize the 'oh sh--,' factor in their lives can never be a bad thing.  They will have enough of those moments anyway, and HPV is one hell of a big 'oh sh--.'  Just because someone's a little older too, doesn't mean that they still can't benefit.  So about the up to 21 thing I also say bring it on, let's stop wondering and just do this thing.

Absolutely I will give it to my daughter, but not at 9.......I will give it to her when she is 12, and that will make the vaccine and it's post clinical trials about 8 years out.....and the results should really start to separate.  HPV is a National problem, and Cervical Cancer is a going to become an increasing cancer of the future due to HPV seen in 1 out of 5 women.  The vaccine only covers 4 of the viral subtypes of HPV/Cervical Cancer, but 4 more than we had 3 years ago!

I think that perhaps people were mislead by the 21 and younger portion of the article.  That portion was cynical in nature, making the assumption that by age 22 all the women who would want the vaccine would already have the disease and there would be only a small impact seen on the paper pusher statistics.  I think that not wanting to give a 9 year old a vaccine for an STD is valid, but once people hit their teenage years, then it's not parents encouraging promiscuity, it's simple genetics.  We can counsel our children for all the good behavior and bread in France, but they are going to make their own mistakes.  This vaccine has the potential to help mitigate those mistakes for thousands of women, even those women who make no mistakes, but marry men who have.    One of the most deadly steriotypes about STDs is that you have to be promiscuous to get one.  No, you don't, all you have to do is have sex once.  Just once, and bang bang, your dead.  (Sorry to be overly dramatic, but I simply cannot overstate the fallacy of that particular myth.)  Lets get going, treat HPV like Polio and get rid of it.