General Chat

I'm only asking because I've been trying to find out if I'm eligible too. I know I'm nearly 24 and all the promotional stuff is aimed at parents of 12-13 years olds (I think on the assumption that they won't yet have had sex) but I've been on the NHS website and it doesn't seem to say anything about girls older than that who haven't yet sex (which is the category I fall into).

So I wondered if there's any parents out there either with daughters in the target age group or those a bit older and whether they were considering their older girls having it to? It just seems to me like a lot of girls who are possibly eligible are going to get missed out. (Unless I'm missing something, but I understood they were aiming to vaccinate girls before they were likely to be sexually active?)

I thought that might be the case, Julia. I mean, I suppose as a vaccination programme (they often do them through schools with ones like TB and diphtheria/tetanus/polio) it is logical to do it through schools but there will be a lot of girls who will get missed out that way.

The best "advice" on the NHS website is that if you're over the target group age to just wait till you're called for a smear test, which now doesn't happen till you're 25 here. It just doesn't make sense.

That is worth thinking about too, Gail. I will see what I can find out.

Gail....what side effects please? I have just got the consent form home for my duahgter to have the vaccine

Well, I thought that, Julia - it was 20 up until about 3 years ago and then they moved to 25. (I didn't have one done when I was 20 because I mentioned it to my mum - computer generated letter, of course - and she said, "You don't need to have one - you haven't had sex", so I didn't.)

But you think of the huge age gap between the 12-13 year olds getting this jab and 25 year olds getting a smear test - it's a long time. (And what is more frightening is, my sister was telling me of a boyfriend she had - who is 20 and has had at least 3 partners - who "didn't like using condoms", which I find frankly terrifying and bordering on irresponsible. I think that's why she broke up with him.)

Jeanette guardasil has been linked with Guillain Barr syndrome amongst other things.
The australians rolled this vaccine out recently and are now wading through a heap of adverse effect reports,just like they have in the usa.
even if it turns out these side effects are only affecting a small portion of people relative to the number of vaccines the effects are still devastating for those who live with them
The problem with vaccines such as these is they are launched on the public with a good deal of propoganda remembering that they make an awful lot of money for the drug companies that manufacture them.
HPV is a sexually transmitted disease and actually the fundamental way to protect your daughters is to instill in them enough self esteem to insist they are protected by condoms during sex.
Then they dont have to take a punt on wether a vaccine is safe and they are also protected form all the other nasties that are making a comeback.
Combine that with the habit of regular smears and they are well protected.

you dont need a smear until you are sexually active,but as soon as a girl is active they should be having 3yrly smears from then be they 14 or 40

i think this vacc is a great idea
but lets not forget as parents its our responsibility
to educated our kids
against the dangers of sleeping around
and not only are they sleeping with the person
they are in bed with
but everybody they have slept with to

i do hope this vacc saves lives

Tania, thanks. Your advice about condoms is spot on and having just read that only 1% of people who become infected with HPV get cervical cancer, it has given me food for thought

julia this is NZ
we only go to yearly if someone has had a abnormal smear

Good point, Gail. I do find it intriguing, looking on the NHS website, that most of the reasons cited for not offering it routinely to an older age group - if you read it closely - all seem to boil down to it not being considered cost-effective.

But whether that is actually the case or whether it is because it is a new vaccine and they are not sure about side effects, I don't know.

yes gail Merc and glaxo smith Kline are in hot competition with each other on this one.
Our little gem this year was the MENZ B vaccine
They bought a vaccine from scandanavia that had never been tested on very young children,they ignored reports of side effects in teens up there,they introduced it here after a really short trial to combat our epidemic of meningoccoccal disease,they failed to mention the disease was well in decline before they started,they terrorised parents with adverts of limbless babies,they spent millions of dollars on a campaign to now have to admit that all the vaccinated children are no longer immune(it only had a short effiacy)
meanwhile the drug company has laughed all the way to the bank

the government are defending themselves saying it stopped the disease in its tracks but when the real figures are crunched it was a bloody big waste of money.
They could have spent the same on nurses in schools,teaching children nose blowing and hand washing and good public information campaigns,or alternatively they could have sorted out the overcrowded housing in the worst effected areas

but even if this vacc only saves one childs life

that child could be your child

Equally, Joy, if this vaccination kills one child that child could be yours

I've just been having a read and it seems HPV is the cause of 70% of cervical cancers. If HPV is surpressed then it will give the other 30% of cancer causing viruses a better chance of getting a hold.

Of the thousands of people who contract HPV only 1% go on to get cervical cancer.

It is not known how long the vaccine will work for. Some say as little as 3 years so where is the point in giving it to an 11 year old?

It may not make all of the girl's who receive it immune to HPV.

It has not been tested for long enough to know whether it will have any serious side effects.

As a nurse I`ve been at a talk on it and now read these other points from around the world , don`t know what I think. But the Dr. who spoke said it`s a common virus in all women and some can just fight it. It is very expensive £80 per inj --need 3.We don`t know in the surgery when we`ll have time to fit them in with flu immunisation coming up and now nurses having to possibly do childhood immunisations. I wonder what the uptake will be in 12 year olds?
Ros xx

n

my daughters are 11 and almost 14 so they will be called for it next year......i'm undecided at the moment,


Karen x

Sam , not heard of that reason . There is a lot of debate with GPS at the moment as to whether they will get paid for doing the jags but tell her to try Family Planning clinics -they will also be doing it , in Scotland they will, Ros xx

n