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HPV Linked With Lung Cancer, But Many Still Fight Vaccine
Conservatives say drug encourages teen sex
By Sam Gale Rosen
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Posted Apr 28, 08 3:33 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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The human papillomavirus, or HPV, has been linked to increased risk of lung cancer, but conservatives are standing firm in opposition to the new vaccine. Parents and activists charge that Gardasil encourages promiscuous sex, ABC News reports. "If you give kids the vaccine, you're giving them a license to go have sex," insists the head of an abstinence advocacy group.
HPV has long been known to cause cervical cancer; the new study appears to show that it also compounds the risk of lung cancer for smokers. "As more of these studies are completed, we're learning that the vaccine would clearly be preventive in many different kinds of cancers, not just cervical," one doctor says.