A Public Service Announcement

First off, I apologize for neglecting my blog. I was swamped with finals and work. Now that finals are over, I’m only swamped with work, leaving me with plenty of time to write. Second, I know I said in the intro that this blog wasn’t going to be about anything serious. Well, every now and then, serious stuff needs saying. Your regularly scheduled levity will return next week.

Yesterday at work, I was having a conversation with two of my co-workers about vaccines. One of my co-workers, a middle-aged woman, was talking about how her kids had gotten the chicken pox vaccine, but still got chicken pox. She said that if she had it to do over again, she wouldn’t have gotten them vaccinated. (We’re only talking chicken pox here. I don’t want to start the MMR vaccine war on this blog. There are plenty of other places to take that debate.) My other co-worker, a middle-aged man, said that his kids were too young for the shot and that he hadn’t decided what to do yet. I mentioned that I got the chicken pox before the vaccine was developed.

The conversation turned to flu shots. None of us get the flu shot. I didn’t delve into their reasons, but my reason is that I have adverse reactions to nearly every shot I get, and I’m not worried enough about the flu to risk the reaction. (I may change my mind this year in light of swine flu, but I haven’t made that decision yet.) I made an off-hand comment that the only optional vaccine I chose to get was the cervical cancer vaccine.

My female co-worker asked me a little about the shot. She said that she had heard of it, but that she hadn’t gotten it. I told her that it was currently only approved for girls and women ages 9-26, and that I got the series of shots shortly before my 27th birthday. My male co-worker was still listening to the conversation, and he piped up addressing my female co-worker saying that since she was married, she had nothing to worry about.

[Background: Most cases of cervical cancer are caused by strains of the human papiloma virus (HPV) which are venereal. This is not to be confused with other strains of HPV which cause warts on the hands and feet and are transmitted by casual contact.]

The conversation ended there because the CEO walked by and we all had to get back to work. The rest of the day, the conversation bugged me because now the guy in the next cube over probably thinks I’m promiscuous. (To his credit, he did say that if he had a daughter, he would probably want her to get vaccinated, albeit reluctantly.)

I have made a solemn commitment to God that I will abstain from premarital sex. I fully intend to keep that commitment, even though it’s not always easy. That said, there are still several non-promiscuous reasons to be vaccinated.

Reason 1: I plan on marrying someone who shares my religious views. However, most of the men I date are in their 30’s. There’s a pretty good chance that even if I do marry someone who shares my faith, I may not be his first partner.
Reason 2: There’s always the possibility that I’ll marry someone who ends up having an affair. Even if I’m completely faithful, that’s no guarantee that I’ll be the recipient of fidelity.
Reason 3: Even if I’m faithful and the man I marry is faithful, there’s still one dismal statistic left. One in four American women will be a victim of sexual assault.

So, there you have it. It’s not a happy thought, but there are at least three good reasons why even non-promiscuous women should consider getting the cervical cancer vaccine.

[Although the vaccine is most effective if it’s received before you become sexually active, even if you get it after you become sexually active, it will still protect you from any strains of the virus that you are not infected with.]