news-record.com

Working on a story for later this week but here's what I have so far.

There's been no small amount of contention over the school board's 6-5 vote to permit the county health department to offer free vaccination clinics on school campuses after school hours. The clinics will offer the vaccination against human papillomavirus or HPV. The virus is the most common sexually transmitted disease, though its contraction is not limited to intercourse.

Some types of HPV can cause cervical cancer as well as genital warts, according the Center for Disease Control. Some types of HPV can also cause less common cancers such as cancers of the vulva, vagina, anus and penis.

Some have raised questions about the school board's support for these clinics. The school board made it very clear they were simply allowing the health department access to their facilities and have no other connection to the clinics.

Two things people seemed to be confused about,
1. this vaccination is not mandatory, parents can elect to have their child vaccinated through this free clinic.

2. the school system is not spending any money on this. The clinics are provided by the Guilford County Health Department with a grant from Duke University.

The clinics are an effort to get the vaccine to those students who might not be able to have access to it. The vaccine calls for three rounds of shots at about $125 per dose.

The clinics are the second phase of the health department's program. The first phase, an awareness campaign launched last year in schools that agreed to it, finished earlier this year.

Lots of people are worried about this from several different points. The most common is a fear the HPV vaccination, Gardasil manufactured by Merck, makes some patients ill and even causes paralysis.

Neither the CDC nor Merck have found any connection to Gardasil and the reported cases of paralysis. Others have reported severe and ongoing fatigue after the recieiving the vaccination. Again, both the CDC and Merck found no connection.

Still, the cases have given many parents pause and several board members noted those cases when they voted against allowing the clinics. Many cite this report from conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch.

Others argue the safest way to guard against HPV is abstinence. While health officials agree not having sex of any kind before committing to a monogamous relationship is the best way to prevent contracting HPV it isn't definitive.

Dr. Michelle Horvath, a local OBGYN working with the health department on the clinics, told the board she has seen many married women who contracted the virus from their husbands. Getting vaccinated can protect women from a lot of heartache, Horvath told the board.

The CDC recommends women between the ages of 11 and 23 be vaccinated.

To learn more about HPV and the vaccine Gardasil read here at the CDC website.