Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand ForksBachmann under fire

Bachmann under fire

Conservatives have often argued that the vaccine for the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) encourages premarital sex; this week presidential hopeful Michelle Bachmann took it a step further. She said a mother told her the vaccine caused her child to develop a mental disability. The comment came after a heated debate with Gov. Rick Perry, who required girls 9 to 12 years of age in the state of Texas get the vaccine.

Cervical cancer is completely preventable with the HPV vaccine. Nurse practitioner Audrey Eckes says that if it were lung cancer the vaccine prevented against the outrage would quickly turn to commendation.

"Whenever it begins to involve genital skin or cervical issues or anything related to what people perceive as sexual behavior it somehow changes things up for people."

On the 'Today Show' Tuesday morning, Bachmann said a mother came up to her after the debate with Perry: "She told me that her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental retardation there after."

Eckes says Bachmann's insinuation about the vaccine was heedless.

"To take the opinion of one person coming out of a crowd that you have no background on and don't know their history and use that as fact and reference it over to the general population is -- I would say, irresponsible."

On their website, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has a review page for this vaccine. None of the serious side effects have been linked to the vaccine and there have been no reports of mental disability. In fact, the most serious side effect they found was fainting. They now ask patients to sit down for 15 minutes after they get vaccinated.

"The age the child is when they receive this vaccine, it would be unusual for them to go from a normal functioning child to a developmentally delayed child from an injection. Generally speaking, those are things that occur in birth or childhood."