General Chat

Hi Janey

I read that much stuff yesterday I can't actually remember where I read about the 30% of other cancers!

Understandably, given your past experience, you are all for the vaccination. But when the company who actually manufacture the vaccine openly admit that they have not done any study into the long term effects with regard to contracting cancer, fertitlity and nuerological and auto-immune problems, then I think I have to be a bit wary. It seems to me that the vaccines were rushed out.

I also read that it was actually boys that are the carriers of HPV so I would like to know why they aren't being vaccinated. Also, there are 15 strains of the HPV virus and this vaccine only protects against 2 strains.

After much conflab with my OH and my daughter we have decided not to have the vaccine done just yet. If further information becomes available to persuade us that it is a good thing than we will review our decission. It was a very hard decission to make and I can only hope that we have made the right one.

Jeanette x

Same here Maz. My daughter's school sent home a letter the other week saying all year 8 girls would be given it. They didn't mention any othe year but I think the others will be given it once this age group have been given it.

Janey it used to be offered to those of a younger age, about 20 if I remember rightly. I can't remember the exact reasons that were given for raising the age in the magazine article I read but they went along the lines of it being unlikely for someone under that age to develop cervical cancer. Personally, I think it was a cost cutting exercise.

in Scotland smears start at 20 -60 every 3 years , wonder why it`s not the same as England, Ros

am waiting for my letter at the moment - daughter not amused at having to have it, but I think it's for the best. there will always be a point at which a condom is not used - even if it's not until in a stable long-term relationship - but if the other party has had unprotected sex before, then there is a good chance you will get this HPV.

is it really 3 injections? she will NOT be happy about that!

asked at the GP about it the other day and in our area they are being done in schools, not at the doctors. otherwise I don't think they would cope!

Maz. XX

Forgive me for being a bit of a proselytizer. I did lose my cervix to the standard procedure for preventing cervical cancer where there is a pre-cancerous condition: removing a great chunk of the cervix.

It isn't important just to prevent cancer -- it's important to prevent that having to be done, too.

Well ... in Britain, it's time smears started being given to any sexually active female person!

Or any female person suspected of having been sexually assaulted or abused at some time. It doesn't matter how the sexual contact occurs, the virus, like other STDs, can be spread, and the precursors of cancer can be present.

Seriously, cervical lesions and cancer are increasingly being seen in university-age women.

In Britain (well England anyway) smears are only given to women aged 25 or over.

work in commissioning at the mo Ros

are you a nurse wbfc?
Ros xx

yes thanks Rosalyn i did read back and see that, miss read first time round. I didnt realise some GP's hadnt signed up for it.

And one more thing that should be added -- the vaccine does not mean that women, and girls who have been sexually active, should not get regular PAP smears. Pre-cancerous conditions are increasingly being detected in very young women.

The vaccine does not protect against *all* causes of cervical cancer. It is still important to get regular testing. PAP smears can detect early changes that can lead to cancer, and procedures such as cone biopsies may be advisable.

A woman with stage III cervical cancer has a less than 50% 5-year survival rate. PAP smears have dramatically reduced the number of deaths from cancer, but they only work if you get them.

She said her Gp wouldn`t do it cos she was 18 but a lot of them haven`t yet signed up to do it in the surgeries yet--finances , space , time etc, Ros xx

Thanks Rosalyn I missed that, was responding to the person who said their daugher had been refused the injection

btw the pct i work for has the school nurses doing the vaccine, they are talking about having to employ extra staff to try to help with the back log. The SN's are already flat out with the governments requirements to weigh and measure all the year six kids, reception kids and provide support for parents along with their work with families with special needs and safeguarding, who would be a nurse?? lol

As I said earlier , please read before adding , it is available in Family Planning clinics , don`t need to pay,
Ros xx

OMG Janey when my son had his pre-school booster for DPT the whole of his arm from his elbow to his shoulder swelled and was bright red.....still took my daughter before she started to have hers done though before she started school

And thank you Webster!

The side effects associated with this vaccine are consistent with those associated with any vaccine.


Lemme tell you about the time I got a second tetanus vaccination within a year of the last one I'd had ... thought my arm would fall off from the muscle pain ...

GlaxoSmithKline’s cervical cancer vaccine, Cervarix is being used in the UK rather than the vaccine produced by Mercl-Frosst

Side effects that occurred during clinical trials with Cervarix were
as follows:

Very common (side effects which may occur in more than 1
per 10 doses of vaccine):
• pain or discomfort at the injection site
• redness or swelling at the injection site
• headache
• aching muscles, muscle tenderness or weakness (not caused
by exercise)
• tiredness

Common (side effects which may occur in less than 1 per 10
but more than 1 per 100 doses of vaccine):
• gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain
• itching, red skin rash, hives (urticaria)
• joint pain
• fever (≥38°C)

Uncommon (side effects which may occur in less than 1 per
100 but more than 1 per 1,000 doses of vaccine):
• upper respiratory tract infection (infection of the nose,throat or trachea)
• dizziness
• other injection site reactions such as hard lump, tingling or numbness.

for full info leaflet visit
http://emc.medicines.org.uk/emc/assets/c/html/displaydoc.asp?documentid=20207

I have found more than private practice offering it to girls aged 9-26 (for payment obviously) so you should be able to get it Kate, but you may have to pay if your GP wont offer it on the NHS

SALUTES JANEY

SO WELL PUT AS ALWAYS

THANK YOU

Here's a very useful page from the Health Canada website:

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/std-mts/hpv-vph/hpv-vph-vaccine-eng.php

Obviously anyone with specific concerns based on other things they have read will find that somewhat simplistic.

It isn't good enough to have concerns, though -- they have to be based on something real. I've done a lot of reading on this, and have never found anything.


The brouhaha seems to be based exclusively on two things:

- the fact that some ignorant fundamentalists think that taking steps to protect children against harms that can result from sexual activity (consensual OR non-consensual, always remember) will encourage children to engage in sexual activity, which they think is a bad thing

- the fact that the vaccine is produced by Merck-Frosst, a corporation that some are, with reason, suspicious of


Suspicions about the messenger aren't in themselves enough to reject the message -- an important protection for girls against serious harms later in life.

Jeannette -- "If HPV is surpressed then it will give the other 30% of cancer causing viruses a better chance of getting a hold."

Can you cite your source for this?