Seizures and the Immune System – Part 2
How Important is Hepatitis B Vaccination at Birth?

ACOG Says "Adios" to Mandatory HPV Vaccine for Immigrants

Good news Washington, DC -- The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) joins more than 100 organizations representing immigrants’ rights, women’s rights, public health, medicine, and reproductive justice in urging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to remove the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine from the list of required vaccinations for female immigrants seeking permanent residence or entry to the US. ACOG also supports the request that the CDC direct the US Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services to suspend the HPV vaccination requirement for immigrants seeking to adjust their immigration status or to obtain visas to the US.



In a January 26 letter (www.napawf.org) to Richard Besser, MD, acting director of the CDC, ACOG was among those organizations voicing collective opposition to the recent requirement that female immigrants ages 11 to 26 be immunized against HPV. The requirement was finalized in July 2008 and took effect in August. The organizations request that the CDC direct the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)* to modify its recommendation to state that the HPV vaccination should not be mandated for immigrants. ACIP recommended in 2007 that the HPV vaccine be administered to females ages 11 to 26 in the US.

This recommendation then became an automatic requirement for prospective immigrants when the government updated its vaccination list in July 2008.

Although ACOG strongly recommends the HPV vaccine, it does not support mandatory HPV vaccination. Prospective immigrant women should have the same opportunity as American women to make an informed decision about whether or not to be vaccinated against HPV.

*ACIP consists of 15 experts in the fields associated with immunizations who are selected by the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services to provide advice and guidance to the secretary, the assistant secretary for health, and the CDC on the control of vaccine-preventable diseases. ACIP develops written recommendations for the routine administration of vaccines to children and adults in the civilian population.

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The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is the national medical organization representing over 53,000 members who provide health care for women.

Comments

jen

Maureen, are you serious?? HPV is KNOWN to be troublesome when given along with the meningitis shot in particular. Doesn't that dumbass ped know that?? I'm sure this somewhat common knowledge among peds (or SHOULD be) See, that's where I am wondering if they have left a loophole for us to follow up on. Doctors are not following the vaccine insert instructions well enough. It would be interesting to know if HPV insert has inluded this information, and if not, why not. AND, how is it being ensured that AT LEAST doctors and nurses are administering shots properly (i.e. no hep b shots to babies who are moderately ill, which you would think would be any infant in NICU for ANY reason).
Indeed our children have heard our passion and it will help to bring about awareness. My daughter loved the we're "fruct-ed" article with the Childen of the Corn pic. She also must've heard me ranting about little Ian to someone on the phone and she looked at the pictures and read the story. Go girls!!
Angie-you're right it does infer a sense of "dirtiness" when they recommend an STD vaccine to immigrant women. Not to mention that these poor women will have to get shot up with like, 5 of these vaccines in one visit!

Maureen O

I thought I would share a recent visit to our pediatrician. I try to avoid the peds office as much as possible but sometimes you need to go to get physical form filled out. On a recent visit with my 17 yo daughter we were incredibly pressured to give her the HPV shot. They also recommended Hep A, tetanus, meningitis ALL IN ONE VISIT! My daughter finally spoke up and said "its my body, my decision and I am NOT getting any of those shots so stop!". Obviously she has been listening. When we left the doctors office she said I quote, " Mom why do we keep coming here these people are obviously idiots?" LOL Let's teach more of these young adults to speak up and stop the next wave of autism

Angie

It certainly doesnt surprise me that STD's are on the rise, pretty soon so will Cervical Cancer.

The whole reason why the CDC and AAP recommend that newborns and infants and children get all of their shots so DAMN close together is for fear that people (I believe the CDC and AAP concentrate on it being the lower class only..ha!)..their fear that the parent wont continue to come back for more and more shots, either because they dont have insurance or they just forget or whatever they think...

BUT, they are advocating for a vaccine that STILL REQUIRES the woman to come back each year for their pap smear? Talk about hypocritical! My gosh, they are advertising that this vaccine (I am not telling any of us here anything new..lol!) is the one stop cure all for STD's and all of cervical cancer...they should not be able to advertise and market it that way for SURE!

I personally believe marketing of ALL kinds of medicine's should not be allowed! I hope one day when the truth is out, which I feel is coming, and coming pretty soon if my gut is right on this one...I hope that this is just like cigarette ad's, because for sure the Pharma's are mirroring and doing WORSE that the tobacco companies...I mean the tobacco companies have always been a tobacco company, a for proffit company...but yet the CDC/AAP/etc have all been agencies to PROTECT the public..BIG difference if you ask me! much much worse!

Oh, and whats with mandating it to immigrants ( I hope they turn this stupid law over )...to me, its like the government is looking at all incoming women citizens as "dirty" if you know what I mean, and that is wrong in so many ways...ARGH!

Anyway, thanks for listening to me vent!

Angie
Mom to Ethan, Alex, and Megan

Randy

"One less" (person denied the basic human right of informed medical consent)

Twyla

P.S. I guess I didn't read carefully -- apparently the vaccine is still required for immigrants, although this is being challenged. We'll see whether or not the requirement continues.

Twyla

Recommended is much better than mandatory. This is certainly good news for various reasons, including the ACOG's apparent respect for a parent's right to choose.

But it is unfortunate that many immigrants will not make an "informed" choice because who will educate them about the potential side effects vs. doubtful benefit? Alas, tragedies waiting to happen...

jen

Maggie, I was thinking exactly the same thing. Maybe the Obstetricians have had long enough to see the consequences of shots to pregnant women or maybe they are just in the unique position to know that all environmental toxins have consequences. Anyways it good news. I was reading about Jenny Tetlock the other day and it just makes me so sad that there are girls (if not all girls) who should not be getting this shot. One of our obsetricians in town seems against it.

Maggie

Now, if they could just quit vaccinating pregnant women.

stdsgirl

Good news.
But CDC says STD is on the rise!
According to the report from STDslove.com, the new subscribers have increased 30% over 2007.

Rising STD rate sparks online dating sites.

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