JAMA: editorial contra a obrigatoriedade da vacina para o HPV

Finalmente, alguém de bom senso e juízo com visibilidade e respeitabilidade para se contrapor ao absurdo de se vacinar meninas de 11-12 anos para um vírus que talvez nunca se infectem e, caso infectadas não tenha nenhum significado maior. Catherine DeAngelis, editora do JAMA critica a proposta (clique no título) que está sendo votada em vários estados americanos. Aqui, clínicas particulares já estão oferecendo para quem não tem risco de câncer de colo uterino, mas quem se beneficiaria ...

Abaixo, trecho do editorial

Public health authorities, pediatricians, and infectious disease specialists, rather than political bodies, should drive mandatory vaccination decisions and policies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend routine use of HPV vaccinations, but that is not equivalent to mandatory use. Merck, the manufacturer of the HPV quadrivalent vaccine, lobbied legislatures to make the vaccine mandatory before withdrawing its campaign when it became controversial. Since the manufacturer stands to profit from widespread vaccine administration, it is inappropriate for the company to finance efforts to persuade states and public officials to make HPV vaccinations mandatory, particularly so soon after the product was licensed. Private wealth should never trump public health. Human papillomavirus is not a highly infectious airborne disease, which is the paradigm for the exercise of compulsory vaccination. There is no immediate risk of rapid transmission of HPV in schools, as is the case, for example, with measles. The HPV vaccine does not create herd immunity, although it would probably reduce the prevalence of HPV infections. The primary justification for HPV vaccination is to protect women from long-term risks, rather than to prevent immediate harm to others. This may not be a definitive argument against universal use of HPV vaccine because states already mandate vaccination against another disease (hepatitis B) that can be transmitted sexually (among other routes of exposure). But because the HPV vaccine is not immediately necessary to prevent harm to others, it does suggest that compulsory measures need to be more carefully thought through.