Unfettered Letters

Expensive vaccines

In reference to “Few adults waiting in line for new vaccines” (1/24, A-3), I am not surprised no one is getting them. In the case of the shingles vaccine, Zostavax, manufactured by Merck, they are charging in excess of $190 per shot. I was told that the “Red Book,” a national pharmacy guide, reports the average wholesale price is $196.

The shot is primarily for citizens over the age of 60. I do not know how commercial insurance is dealing with this price for their clients between 60 and 64. I do know that Medicare will not pay for it. I can only guess why this is so.

Medicare feels the price is too high and Merck will not discount this new shot. Medicare is holding out for a better price.

I’m sure Medicare will pay for treatment of citizens who actually get shingles, but will not pay for the prevention.

My wife and I are both 65 years of age and would like to get the shot, but will probably wait until Medicare decides to pay for most of the vaccine. We are gambling that we won’t get shingles.

Paul L. Zirjacks
Iola, Kan.

Investigate HPV vaccine

As an advanced practice nurse working in different clinics, I have seen too many cases of HPV. Young women are being exposed to this virus frequently.

HPV stands for human papillomavirus, and there are more than 100 strains of the virus, 30 of which can cause cervical cancer or genital warts.

Because this is a virus, it can never be cured, so once infected, always infected.

The virus is spread through sexual contact, and the majority of times the infected partner may never know of the infection that he or she is spreading.

A new vaccine, Gardasil, produced by Merck, can prevent infection of at least four strains of the virus that are associated with cervical cancer and genital warts.

At present, there are no laws in place to enforce this vaccination. This is a time when all parents and females should consider the health risks from this virus.

Of course, encouraging abstinence from sexual activity is important, but at the same time, utilizing a vaccine to guard your or your child’s health is vitally important, too.

Please consider this new vaccine, and ask your health-care provider for more information.

Melissa Smith
Leawood

Vaccinations needed?

I was planning to visit Washington and tour the Capitol. What shots do I need in case I encounter some of our representatives?

Kevin Peterson
Blue Springs

HPV vaccine

Robert Onder’s As I See It column (8/14, “Measure would have made guinea pigs of preteen girls”) caught my attention. He listed the current childhood vaccines, “measles, smallpox, polio, rubella, pertussis,” conveniently forgetting to mention the Hepatitis B vaccine.

The Hepatitis B vaccine prevents a virus that causes an infection of the liver, which can lead to liver cancer or death. I think he may have purposefully left it out, because it is a sexually contracted virus, just like HPV. Is it the abstinence issue?

The HPV vaccine is for the protection of women from cervical cancer. However, men are carriers of HPV. Even if a young woman abstains from having sex until marriage, there is no guarantee the man she marries has done the same. He could give her HPV.

The percentage of strains that the vaccine inoculates against is irrelevant. As a father of a girl myself, I will do anything to protect her from any danger. I doubt that receiving a vaccine will be the tipping point on her decision on whether to have sex when she is a teenager.

Dustin Griffith
Overland Park

Merck’s profit motive

I read with great interest Mary Sanchez’s opinion piece concerning Merck’s new Gardasil vaccine (3/27, “Wishful thinking is no basis for public policy”).
I’m afraid, however, that Sanchez slid over the most important piece of the story. She mentions that 20 states are considering mandating the vaccinations for grade-school girls, but doesn’t take into consideration the bottom line: Merck’s quest for the mighty dollar.
There is no reason to make Gardasil a mandatory vaccination for girls entering sixth grade. HPV is not transferred by coughing or sneezing or casual contact in school rooms. There is no reason for every single little girl to undergo this new, barely tested and possibly dangerous drug.
Think how much money Merck will make, however, on these vaccines. It takes three shots, at $120 each, to complete the vaccine. That’s $360 for every little girl in sixth grade.
No wonder they’re pushing for it in so many states. Those golden parachutes for their management employees have to be funded from somewhere. Why not on the health of all those little girls?
Toni’ Snyder
Kansas City