Pediatricians Fact-Check Bachmann's Bashing of HPV Vaccine

[jaxx]

Pediatricians Fact-Check Bachmann's Bashing of HPV Vaccine

Now the nation's pediatricians have waded deep and early into the race for the presidency. In an unusual instance of political fact-checking of a candidate's statements by physicians themselves, the American Academy of Pediatrics has a tough prescription for Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann: Get your facts straight on the HPV vaccine.

Quote:(Bachmann) She told me that her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection. And she suffered from mental retardation thereafter. The mother was crying when she came up to me last night. I didn't know who she was before the debate. This is the very real concern and people have to draw their own conclusions.

Quote: The American Academy of Pediatrics would like to correct false statements made in the Republican presidential campaign that HPV vaccine is dangerous and can cause mental retardation. There is absolutely no scientific validity to this statement. Since the vaccine has been introduced, more than 35 million doses have been administered, and it has an excellent safety record.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Academy of Family Physicians all recommend that girls receive HPV vaccine around age 11 or 12. That's because this is the age at which the vaccine produces the best immune response in the body, and because it's important to protect girls well before the onset of sexual activity. In the U.S., about 6 million people, including teens, become infected with HPV each year, and 4,000 women die from cervical cancer. This is a life-saving vaccine that can protect girls from cervical cancer.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/09/...c=fb&cc=fp

Bachmann made points by slamming Perry for mandating the vaccines and went on to tell a whopper. Having the doctors call her on it should shut her up.....we shall see.

[suzie]

It's unfortunate that Bachmann made herself sounds like a part of the "anti-any vaccine" crazies, because she'd probably found a point on which Perry is extremely vulnerable. One which has the potential to lose him a LOT of women's votes.

The rapidity with which Limbaugh and other conservatives have jumped on the "trash Michele" bandwagon probably indicates how scared they are of Perry's vulnerability.

I'm thinking "You go, girl." Because the concerns about this vaccine aren't the same as those about the other childhood vaccines, like measles.