Fairfield’s Health Center plans to open an HPV clinic that will administer vaccinations. The shots may cost less than the series does now, about $360 for all three shots.
However, the Health Center does not currently have GARDASIL available.
“Presently, we are not stocking GARDASIL due to the high cost,” said Gary Nelson, director of Health Services and the official who initiated the project. “However, we will administer [the vaccine] to students if they bring it with them to the Health Center.”
The Health Center is making an effort to implement the project in response to the growing number of women affected by HPV.
According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, at least one out of two sexually active men and women have had a genital HPV infection. Men are carriers for HPV but affected by the disease. Merck, the creator of GARDASIL, estimates that 80 percent of women in the United States will have had an HPV infection by age 50.
Worldwide, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer affecting women. In the U.S., approximately 4,000 women will die from cervical cancer this year, according to the National Cancer Institute. The Institute encourages young women to take precautions against HPV now because cervical cancer usually does not occur until midlife.
Awareness for college-age women is important because HPV is much more prevalent in women 20-24 years old, according to Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The Center also conducted a study of 2,000 women ages 14-59, the college-aged women had a 44.8 percent rate of infection.
Since receiving FDA approval and coming onto the market in June 2006, thousands of women have been vaccinated. Nelson said that he hopes as the time passes, the costs for GARDASIL will drop and administering the drug will become an easier process.
“We are working with the local Health Department to administer GARDASIL on campus, but the supplies are very limited,” he said.
“HPV should be a concern of the University, especially since it is so common among college-aged women,” said Gabrielle Guiliano ’10.
Jessica Vigliotti ’09, who is familiar with HPV research, said she is pleased with Fairfield’s progress but is concerned about the Health Center’s practices.
“Although the HPV vaccine will help prevent the rate of HPV infection in women from increasing, I feel that women should be presented with the entire story about GARDASIL,” she said. “There are approximately 106 different types of HPV, and GARDASIL only covers four of those types.”
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