Condemning The Handmaid?

DystopiaRising
FundieVille

This just in from the New Scientist:

"DEATHS from cervical cancer could jump fourfold to a million a year by 2050, mainly in developing countries. This could be prevented by soon-to-be-approved vaccines against the virus that causes most cases of cervical cancer....."

Listen.

I have a confession to make.

I once worked for a fundie organization where I was locked up for weeks at a time and forced to work 15 hour days for next to nothing at all.

You see, back when I was a much younger, and in many ways much wiser, man I spent my summers working at a YMCA camp in the wilds of British Columbia.

And I loved every minute of it.

And one day I'll tell you all about it.

But right now I want to tell you about the time the mumps came through.

Ya, those mumps - the one caused by a virus that makes your glands swell-up.

It was no problem for the young women in the camp.

But all of us not so fine young cannibals were in a tizzy.

Why?

Because of the permanent damage the virus can do to post-pubertal testicles.

Now cervical cancer is also caused by a virus, specifically one of the human papilloma viruses (HPV).

And that's the virus that the vaccine is directed against that the New Scientist is talking about.

Only trouble is, there are those think that maybe young girls should not get the vaccine.

And the reasons have nothing whatsoever to do with their health:

"......but there are signs that opposition to the vaccines might lead to many preventable deaths.

The trouble is that the human papilloma virus (HPV) is sexually transmitted. So to prevent infection, girls will have to be vaccinated before they become sexually active, which could be a problem in many countries.

In the US, for instance, religious groups are gearing up to oppose vaccination, despite a survey showing 80 per cent of parents favour vaccinating their daughters. "Abstinence is the best way to prevent HPV," says Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council, a leading Christian lobby group that has made much of the fact that, because it can spread by skin contact, condoms are not as effective against HPV as they are against other viruses such as HIV."

All of which brings me back to the mumps. Turned out that all of the young men were fine, even the ones from the U.S. working at the camp, because we'd all been vaccinated when we were kids.

That's right. We'd all had the good ol' mumps, measels and rubella shot that you get in elementary school.

Funny thing is....I don't remember anybody suggesting that young boys should not get the shot because it would turn us into lust-filled maniacs bent on wanton pre-marital sex when we hit puberty (if I remember correctly testosterone does that just fine on its own thank-you very much).

We are living in strange days indeed......most peculiar momma.

And if they came up with an effective HIV vaccine tomorrow?

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Thanks to Kate Storm who first brought up this topic on the new, improved and better than ever All Spin Zone.

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