The HPV Vaccine - is it a good idea ?

[PriorityOne]

Just wondering....

 

My daughter is 18 years old.... older than the 12/13 year-olds that the vaccine is aimed at.... yet has been offered it at school (6th form). She's already been in a relationship as well, so has been sexually active.

 

Does anyone know if there are any real benefits to her having it at her age ?.... after being in a relationship ? We have to have the consent forms back by Wednesday and I'm still sitting on the fence...

 

[demon_x_slash]

Go for Gardasil privately if you can afford it - the Government offered one only offers protection against two strains of papilloma, unlike Gardasil which offers protection against four, and genital warts in addition.

 

Just because she is already sexually active, doesn't mean she can't get HPV and subsequent cancer later on.

[tallskinnykiwi]

Our 13 year old in Scotland was coerced into getting the jab at her school, despite her not wanting it and despite us sending in the permission slip with a big fat "NO" on it.

 

And she is diabetic which we feel adds to the complications.

 

so i would say, if you really dont want your daughter to get jabbed, dont think you are protected by the consent form because that didnt work for us.

 

our story is on my blog ( search for: Tall Skinny Kiwi: HPV vaccination and the coercion of our 13 year old diabetic daughter ) and i think comes out on the papers today

Edited October 12, 2008 by jonni2bad

[PriorityOne]

Thanks for your replies...

 

I've not heard of Gardasil.... and don't trust the Government anyway, which is one of the reasons why I'm so hesitant about this. The leaflet says that the NHS HPV jab protects girls who are not sexually active... so I'm wondering if my daughter having the jab at 18 years old is a waste of time... as the implication seems to be that it only protects girls who are not sexually active, which is why the injections are given at a young age. Do you know if Gardasil still offers protection against the disease(s) when a girl is already sexually active ?

 

I'm so sorry to read your story Kiwi.... and I hope there's some kind of comeback for you over this.

[tallskinnykiwi]

hi. i think you should talk to your family physician for advice. what i know is that Gardasil is given in USA and Cervarix in UK but they are related.

 

i do not know if you can get it in Uk but since there are 20 deaths associated with Gardasil, and thousands of serious medical cases induced from the vaccination, you might want to think twice about asking for it.

 

I have heard that the vaccination still works if the patient has not yet contracted the HPV sexually transmitted disease. For a girl who is planning to be sexually active with multiple partners, it is probably a good idea but still not as good as the only proven way to prevent HPV which is a monogamous sexual relationship with a single healthy individual . . . which is what our daughter is looking forward to.

 

but, i am not a doctor. just a father.

[poppynurse]

The HP virus is strongly linked to cervical cancer, I would have no hesitation in getting my 17 year old vaccinated (although she is sadly no longer a virgin). I think we have to everything possible to protect our youngsters and reduce the incidence of cervical cancer which is a devastating cancer that affects young and not so young folk. I still think we need to push the importance of regular cervical smears, whether vaccinated or not.

 

The issue of consent is a serious one - no one should be vaccinated without consent, I hope complaints have been made through the proper channels.

[PriorityOne]

hi. i think you should talk to your family physician for advice. what i know is that Gardasil is given in USA and Cervarix in UK but they are related.

 

i do not know if you can get it in Uk but since there are 20 deaths associated with Gardasil, and thousands of serious medical cases induced from the vaccination, you might want to think twice about asking for it.

 

I have heard that the vaccination still works if the patient has not yet contracted the HPV sexually transmitted disease. For a girl who is planning to be sexually active with multiple partners, it is probably a good idea but still not as good as the only proven way to prevent HPV which is a monogamous sexual relationship with a single healthy individual . . . which is what our daughter is looking forward to.

 

but, i am not a doctor. just a father.

 

I'm inclined to let this one pass and not encourage my daughter to be vaccinated now, after all.

 

Poppynurse... I understand about protecting our children as much as possible, but the HPV vaccine doesn't seem to be all it's cracked up to be IMO.

 

From my own viewpoint, I've had a dodgy smear test myself in the past; not through my own promiscuity, but from my ex's... This was successfully treated before it had the chance to develop into anything serious and some 10 years later, my recent smear test is completely clear.

 

Although my daughter is not promiscuous either... no-one can guarantee how any of her future partners will choose to lead their lives and the only thing I have rammed home to her is the importance of regular STD checks for her own peace of mind. Once she's old enough to have smear tests, then the same priniciple will apply.

 

If the HPV vaccine was offering a higher rate of protection against more strains of the virus than it currently is.... then I would be more inclined to trust it.... but something is holding me back from doing so and I'm inclined to go with that gut instinct for now.

 

[scatz1972]

Hi

 

I havent consented to my 12 year old daughter having the vaccine for various reasons but we agreed to look at it again in a few years. But now after what TallSkinnyKiwi has said im worried that they will just go ahead anyway.

[My Real Name]

A quick google for tallskinnykiwi will allow you to make up you own mind as to whether he / she / it speaks from a position of authority or not. It seems to me that they probably have a google alert which promots them to jump on any internet forum thread that mentions the HPV vaccine.

 

Personally, my family and I will continue to take advice from qualified medical professionals, such as my GP, who has 5 years of university training, the same again in hospital training, and over a decade in general practice, over and above agenda driven FUD from a stranger on the internet, who's daughter may wel be lying to them.

 

But, at the end of the day, it's your (or your childrens' choice) as to whether they are innoculated against a particularly unpleasant disease.

[meg&mog]

Hi All

 

My daughter is 12 and has just had the 1st of the 3 hpv jabs last week i read alot up on it and i watched that programme that jane moore did on tv and most people are for it my way of thinking at the end of the day was it is a new vaccination i,m sure there was the same concerns amongst parents when the tetanus,polio,mmr etc etc came out now there are not many parents who would not give thier child these jabs

 

I can not personally take the chance of me saing no to this vaccination and then god forbid my daughter developes cervical cancer when she is older as for already sexually active the nurse at my daughters school doing the jabs asked all the girls if there was a chance they could be pregnant

 

So i am not sure it matters

 

Meg&Mog

[PriorityOne]

 

Personally, my family and I will continue to take advice from qualified medical professionals, such as my GP, who has 5 years of university training, the same again in hospital training, and over a decade in general practice, over and above agenda driven FUD from a stranger on the internet, who's daughter may wel be lying to them.

 

 

I respect your view.... but qualified medical professionals don't always get it right either.... Just something to bear in mind.

 

[scatz1972]

Having the vaccination wont mean that your daughter will be protected against cervical cancer.

 

Maybe in a year or two when there is more data available we will take the decision to have it done....both my children have had all of their vaccinations up till now, so im not against vaccinations.

[tallskinnykiwi]

well, its true - i am not a medical professional as it pointed out. i am just a father of a daughter jabbed against her will and mine. and i am just learning about all this HPV stuff

 

but does that really disqualify me from having an opinion?

 

and the fact that I am a Christian should not really come into it. If i was an atheist, i would still be really upset and would still wonder why the law was broken to push an agenda through.

 

if you will only listen to a medical doctor, then do a google search for teh book called "The Truth About Vaccines: How We Are Used as Guinea Pigs Without Knowing It" by a medical expert Dr Richard Halvorsen

 

He was quoted on yesterdays article on the Sunday Express "Girl Gets Sex Jab against will" [front page] about our daughter as saying that he would not give this injection to his own daughter.

 

i tend to agree with him, but . . . we each need to figure it our for ourselves, dont we?

[My Real Name]

I respect your view.... but qualified medical professionals don't always get it right either.... Just something to bear in mind.

Also to bear in mind, they do have the weight of authority, evidence and knowlege on their side.

 

Having the vaccination will mean that your daughter will be protected against 70% of cervical cancers.

Fixed that for you there.

 

Maybe in a year or two when there is more data available we will take the decision to have it done....both my children have had all of their vaccinations up till now, so im not against vaccinations.

Which data in particular are you waiting for? Live epedemiology studies? I doubt that these will have any significant deviation from existing studies and clinical trials.

 

I'm not sure I understand the reluctance being displayed.

[tallskinnykiwi]

and thanks to the person that sent me some emails on these posts to alert me.

[My Real Name]

well, its true - i am not a medical professional as it pointed out. i am just a father of a daughter jabbed against her will and mine. and i am just learning about all this HPV stuff

 

but does that really disqualify me from having an opinion?

No. But neither does not lend any authority to that opinion.

 

and the fact that I am a Christian should not really come into it. If i was an atheist, i would still be really upset and would still wonder why the law was broken to push an agenda through.

How does that have any relevance? Why bring it up in the first place?

 

if you will only listen to a medical doctor, then do a google search for teh book called "The Truth About Vaccines: How We Are Used as Guinea Pigs Without Knowing It" by a medical expert Dr Richard Halvorsen

 

He was quoted on yesterdays article on the Sunday Express "Girl Gets Sex Jab against will" [front page] about our daughter as saying that he would not give this injection to his own daughter.

 

i tend to agree with him, but . . . we each need to figure it our for ourselves, dont we?

It is evident that Halvorsen has an agenda. He makes money by perpetuating the myth that combined vaccination is bad. Each and every claim that he, and other antivaccinationists makes about combined vaccines have been solidly refuted, through evidence based reasoning.

 

Should your daughter have been vaccinated against her will? No - Probably not. But we've only heard one side of that particular story, and I am calling your credibility into question.

[scatz1972]

My Real Name - Why quote what I wrote, then edit it?

 

I dont know about anyone else on this thread but I find you quite aggresive.....thankfully I have just located my ignore list so that should remedy that.

[My Real Name]

My Real Name - Why quote what I wrote, then edit it?

I was correcting your statement.

Having the vaccination wont mean that your daughter will be protected against cervical cancer.

That is a false statement. I fixed it to read:

Having the vaccination will mean that your daughter will be protected against 70% of cervical cancers.

Hence the "Fixed that for you there".

 

I dont know about anyone else on this thread but I find you quite aggresive.....thankfully I have just located my ignore list so that should remedy that.

One of the perils of the written word is that intonation, inflection, and nuance is lost. The reader will often infer meaning that is entirely different to what the author wishes to convey.

 

To illustrate, I could infer that you are thankful, because you are unable to enter into a reasoned discussion, or I could infer that you are thankful because you do not want to listen to opinion that contradicts your own.

 

Either way, it's you prerogative, to which you are entirely welcome. Odd that you should feel the need to inform me, as opposed to just ignoring me and being done with it.

Edited October 13, 2008 by My Real Name
typos

[meg&mog]

Having the vaccination wont mean that your daughter will be protected against cervical cancer.

 

Maybe in a year or two when there is more data available we will take the decision to have it done....both my children have had all of their vaccinations up till now, so im not against vaccinations.

 

 

I understand that but in this case i have put my trust in the medical profession who seem to think it will better my daughters chances of not getting it

[tallskinnykiwi]

[i am calling your credibility into question.]

 

fine. do some research and appease yourself. we sure wouldn't want you to lose sleep over this issue.

 

thanks for the chat everyone. bedtime for us.

[MrShed]

I for one agree with My Real Name.

 

Most vaccines have side effects, yes. But in ALL cases(and I do mean all) the benefits of having the vaccines far outweigh the risks, and the risks of not having the vaccine affects all.

 

We can clearly have an opinion. However, it has to be said, that compared to the EXPERT opinion, our opinions are quite clearly not as valid as the years of research, and the consensus of opinion, from the experts in the field.

 

Speaking as someone who (unwittingly) allowed their partner to have exposure to HPV, I only wish the vaccine had been around 10 years ago.

[PriorityOne]

Some interesting points here.... but having been let down by both the legal profession and the medical profession, I put my trust in no-one on the basis of a few letters after their name.... and the Gov. will always play down what it doesn't want you to know.

 

Sceptical ? Very. On a very different note.... I've been slamming the over-use of Ritalin for years.... and look what's happened there.

 

Each to their own though.... I do understand the arguments for the vaccine, but while it still leaves room for cervical cancer to develop, only deals with 2 (most common) out of 13 papillomavirus and, the need for smear tests is just as relevant as without it.... I'm still inclined to pass.

 

Had my daughter been born just one week earlier, she wouldn't have been offered it anyway.

[MrShed]

But PO - the aim of the vaccine is not to "prevent" smear tests, but to "prevent" some cancers. I fail to see the argument - some protection has to be better than no protection.

[MrShed]

The problem with vaccines is that there is much more publicity given to their side effects than their successes. There are a number of reasons for this, not least of which is that it is human nature to seek out flaws in things. However, there is also the fact that there is no story behind the success. In 40 years time, headline "HPV vaccine - does what it said it would" is not really a story. But be rest assured, behind every "scaremonger" story about some child who has become ill or died(tragic as this is), or has developed some form of side effect, there will be many stories of people who die of WHOLLY PREVENTABLE cancer, due to them missing the vaccine - we just dont hear about these people as it is classed as "natural causes".

[PriorityOne]

But PO - the aim of the vaccine is not to "prevent" smear tests, but to "prevent" some cancers. I fail to see the argument - some protection has to be better than no protection.

 

I do understand your point Mr Shed....but as a mother, I feel as if I'm being railroaded into a decision that I'm not entirely comfortable with. I need to look into the issue more thoroughly and if that means paying to go privately at a later date after I've been able to make an informed choice, then so be it.