Running head: THE HPV VACCINE: CRITICAL ARTICLE REVIEW 1
The HPV Vaccine: Critical Article Review
Given the recent vaccine debates, this topic often produces acrimonious exchanges and a
plethora of articles, posts, and social organization. It is concerning because we are seeing a
resurgence of preventable diseases such as mumps and whooping cough. The efficacy and safety
of vaccines has been proved through peer-reviewed sources, and negligible negative impacts are
eclipsed by the positive “herd immunity” that results from vaccination programs. HPV, or the
virus that causes cervical cancer, can be prevented by vaccines such as Gardasil at a rate of 94-
100% (Albietz, 2009). Two articles were mainly sourced for this paper, the anti-vaccine article
being authored by Susan Nelson and the pro-vaccine article being written by Dr. Joseph Albietz.
Reliability and Credibility
Suzanne Nelson’s credentials are cited at the bottom of the article: she is a freelance
journalist who covered the U.S. Congress for a small newspaper for five years prior to that. She
has no degree in public health or the biological sciences. Conversely, an article was found
written by Dr. Joseph Albietz, a practicing pediatrician and supporter of the HPV vaccine.
Nelson claims that the vaccine is unsafe because nine out of 21,000 individuals in the
trial developed arthritis. She states that, given the treatability of cervical cancer, the fact that
only 10,000 cases are diagnosed annually, and the effectiveness of pap smears, this is too high a
cost to bear. The Nelson article does not incorporate the costs of treating such cancer or the cost
of eventually eliminating pap screens altogether, if we can eradicate HPV-related cancer like we
have eradicated smallpox. Nelson states that vaccines can cause injury or death, but does not
furnish any data for vaccine related-deaths, or any deaths related to HPV vaccines specifically.
The HPV Vaccine: Critical Article Review
Given the recent vaccine debates, this topic often produces acrimonious exchanges and a
plethora of articles, posts, and social organization. It is concerning because we are seeing a
resurgence of preventable diseases such as mumps and whooping cough. The efficacy and safety
of vaccines has been proved through peer-reviewed sources, and negligible negative impacts are
eclipsed by the positive “herd immunity” that results from vaccination programs. HPV, or the
virus that causes cervical cancer, can be prevented by vaccines such as Gardasil at a rate of 94-
100% (Albietz, 2009). Two articles were mainly sourced for this paper, the anti-vaccine article
being authored by Susan Nelson and the pro-vaccine article being written by Dr. Joseph Albietz.
Reliability and Credibility
Suzanne Nelson’s credentials are cited at the bottom of the article: she is a freelance
journalist who covered the U.S. Congress for a small newspaper for five years prior to that. She
has no degree in public health or the biological sciences. Conversely, an article was found
written by Dr. Joseph Albietz, a practicing pediatrician and supporter of the HPV vaccine.
Nelson claims that the vaccine is unsafe because nine out of 21,000 individuals in the
trial developed arthritis. She states that, given the treatability of cervical cancer, the fact that
only 10,000 cases are diagnosed annually, and the effectiveness of pap smears, this is too high a
cost to bear. The Nelson article does not incorporate the costs of treating such cancer or the cost
of eventually eliminating pap screens altogether, if we can eradicate HPV-related cancer like we
have eradicated smallpox. Nelson states that vaccines can cause injury or death, but does not
furnish any data for vaccine related-deaths, or any deaths related to HPV vaccines specifically.
