Student health fair offers Gardasil vaccine, cancer tests

By: Rachel Nelson
www.universitystar.com

Women assembled Tuesday in the LBJ Ballroom to receive the first round of the Gardasil vaccine.

The free injections were given to 128 women who attended this year’s Student Health Fair.

“The Gardasil vaccines were very well utilized,” said Ashlee Dozier, health education coordinator.

The vaccine protects against four strands of the common Human Papilloma Virus, or HPV, that can lead to genital warts and cervical cancer in women.

Those who got the first injection at the fair qualify to obtain the two remaining rounds of the vaccine at the Student Health Center at a discounted rate of $25 per injection.

Priscilla Hargraves, director of the Hays County Health Department, said all women are encouraged to get the Gardasil vaccination because regardless if a person has one strand of HPV, she can be shielded against the remaining three strands the shot protects against.

Hargraves said women who get the vaccine should get annual screenings and be aware of changes they notice in their bodies.

“It’s very important to keep getting your pap smears every year,” Hargraves said. “The best case scenario is to get Gardasil, get annual pap tests and pay attention to your body.”

Rebecca Herring, a nurse at the Hays County Health Department, said Gardasil vaccines will likely be made available for men, who have the capacity to carry the disease and pass it to women.

“(Men) are half the problem,” Herring said. “They are hopefully going to be in the next round.”

This year’s fair took on a cancer theme in conjunction with Cancer Awareness Month.

Dozier, who organized the event, said besides providing cancer awareness and screenings, there were nutritional and fitness booths that “will help students stay healthy long-term.”

More than 30 booths were set up in the ballroom for the fair, she said.

Services made available to students included voice screenings to detect laryngeal disorders, oral cancer screenings and lung function tests.

Amanda Martinez, health professions senior, gave lung function tests to students and encouraged smokers to quit. She said because students are young, they often do not worry about the long-term damage they are doing to their lungs by smoking.

“You get one set of lungs and that’s it,” Martinez said. “Once you ruin it, that’s it. You can’t live without breathing, so that’s pretty much the bottom line.”

Thomas Naveja, radiation therapy senior, gave out information about lung cancer at the fair and said he thinks it is a good idea for students to be informed about the different forms of cancer.

“It’s pretty important for people to know about cancer and know ways to prevent it so they don’t end up in that type of situation,” Naveja said.

Colon, breast, prostate, skin and other types of cancers were addressed at the fair. Women were encouraged to give themselves regular breast self-exams and students were reminded to protect their skin against sun damage and tanning.

Remaining Cancer Awareness Month events can be found by visiting cancerawareness.healthcenter.txstate.edu.