No student on Boston College's campus would know Mary Beth Hammer. All the way in Philadelphia, she is a person far from our minds. Yet her story is one that every single person on campus should hear. Hammer is a survivor of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and is now one of its vaccination's biggest advocates. She is "passionate about spreading awareness," according to Sahra Silanee, and created the event Concerts for a Cure in Philadelphia. Hammer is an example of how, the more information we have, the better equipped we can be to prevent viruses like HPV from infecting men and women.
HPV has over 40 strands or types of the virus. These strands range from causing regular body warts to the more serious genital warts and cervical lesions. According to a fact sheet put out by the vaccination company Merck, "Most types of HPV are harmless, do not cause any symptoms, and go away on their own." There are four strands, however, that cause much worse problems. The Gardasil Web site specifies that there are "two types that cause 70 percent of cervical cancer cases, and two more types that cause 90 percent of genital warts cases." The fact that this virus can lead to cancer is what scares so many people.
Now, unlike ever before, the population has a reason to be less afraid, thanks to the creation of Gardasil. In the past, regular pap smears were the only way of detecting HPV. Gardasil, created by Merck, is the first of its kind of preventative vaccinations for both the virus and for cervical cancer. Nancy Baker (MSN, RNCS), associate director of University Health Services, excitedly adds, "This new vaccine may allow for other vaccinations for cancer. It has created a knowledge base for future research."
Gardasil is given to women from the ages of 9 to 26. This HPV vaccination is a series of three shots, with the second occurring two months after the first, and the final shot occurring six months after the first.
BC Health Services, in the two years that the drug has been administered here, has given over 800 of the vaccinations. "The nice thing about this vaccination is that it is not time sensitive. You don't need to stick to a rigid schedule. If a woman missed the time period, she can still continue her series," Baker says. And it is not just women who should be receiving this vaccination, men can get HPV as well, and Merck is creating a vaccination that will treat older women and males.
A large awareness problem occurs in the male population. Many don't know that HPV can affect men. Although they cannot contract cervical cancer, they still are at risk for the virus, a fact that many, such as Richard Cammett, A&S '10, did not know. He says, "I had no idea men could even get HPV. All I knew about the vaccination or the virus was from girls who have received the shots."
The need for students to be aware of the facts of HPV has fueled a campaign launched by Health Services to get the word out. Health Services offered in-house services about the vaccination, and provided pamphlets and fliers about the virus. Most importantly, Baker says, "Any time a woman comes in for a routine exam, she is encouraged to consider the vaccination."
A very exciting aspect of the awareness campaign is the work of two women in BC's own Connell School of Nursing: Jennifer Allen and Holly Fontenot. These two women have been doing extensive research on HPV including getting actual figures on BC's female students' awareness.
Although Health Services has been doing a substantial amount of work of getting the word out, more needs to be done. Kelsey O'Neill, LSOE '12, says, "Compared to high school there is more awareness here at college, but it is in large part from outside sources. I didn't even know they gave the shots here."
Things get difficult on campus in terms of being able to protect oneself even with the vaccination. Because the HPV virus - which can cause cervical cancer - is a sexually transmitted infection, it is necessary to promote safe sexual activity and personal protection. Yet the school cannot condone any type of personal sexual protection. Health Services does discuss that personal protection is an option, but it advocates strongly for abstinence.
What can be discussed is the need for women and, in the near future, men to get the vaccination before becoming sexually active. The vaccination is proven to be more effective in these cases; even when using a condom, a person can still contract HPV. In addition, if a young man or woman didn't know whom their last partner had been with, there is no way of knowing if they had HPV. Many times people with HPV don't know they have it, which is why choosing any of the options of vaccination, personal protection, or abstinence (or a combination of these) is necessary.
There are two main worries with the vaccination. The first is the safety of the drug. Because it is a new drug and the first of its kind, there is no information on long-term effects, something Baker worries about. "There was some concern that came up this fall; some speculation that it [the vaccination] caused problems in young women. Yet the FDA would not have released it if it was not a safe vaccine," Baker says.
When asked if she had any concerns about the vaccination, Molly Shotwell, A&S '11, says, "I didn't have any concerns with it because obviously to be released to the public it had to be safe, and it was recommended by all of my doctors. I think the benefits far outweighed the chances of adverse effects." And the adverse effects are minimal for a vaccination: According to the drug sheet provided by Gardasil, the most common side effects are "pain and swelling around injection site, fever, dizziness, and difficulty breathing."
The second concern for many people is the cost of the vaccination: Every shot costs $135. Many of the larger insurance companies, however, cover all or part of the shots' costs. In addition, students who have the student insurance offered through the school get 80 percent covered for all three doses, as opposed to the insurance plan last year that only covered some percentage of two of the shots. Although it is a pricey vaccination, insurance companies all over are starting to see its worth and the need for equal access for every woman.
As a society focused on stopping the detrimental effects of cancer, we have come upon something so important as a preventative measure to cancer. Baker says, "It is very important to take the opportunities that are provided to afford yourself the fight against this virus since we know it leads to something much worse." Scientists have worked to create a preventative vaccine for HPV and cervical cancer, and Hammer fights for students and others like us to be "One Less" fighting cervical cancer.
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