General Chat

Also, please note -- this is *NOT* a "medication".

This is a VACCINE. It consists of dead virus. Just like all the other vaccines children get.

The fact that it is a vaccine against a disease that is transmitted by sexual contact is completely irrelevant to what it is.

Please, please, please do not listen to the scaremongering about Gardasil.

"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."

Yes --- AND HOW DOES THIS PROTECT THEM AGAINST INFECTION IF THEY ARE SEXUALLY ASSAULTED???


I had a cervical cone biopsy some years ago. Sounds simple. Wasn't. General anaesthetic -- carries its own risks. Essentially had my cervix removed. (Cone biopsies vary in extent -- because of the lesions I had, mine was rather extensive.)

This could affect a woman's ability to carry a pregnancy to term.

So was I one of the ones who got cervical cancer?

No -- but quite possibly ONLY because I had regular checkups and a conservative doctor and a conservative gynecologist -- "conservative" in the sense that they preferred not to take risks with my health and life.

Is it okay to have what happened to me, as long as you don't get cancer? I don't think so. And I'm the one it happened to.

I likely had HPV at one time. I don't know when or how I got it. But it might have been when I was raped.

I think the 1% get cancer stated by someone here is nonsense anyway. One thing is that a woman may HAVE HAD the virus and not have it at the time the cancer is detected.

There is NO proven connection between the vaccine and Guillain Barre or any other negative outcome. NONE.

If you care about your daugthers, get them vaccinated.

It's as simple as that.

I think it is an amazing idea and would definitely have allowed my girls to have it.
But I did not realise that they were only doing one age group.
You ask though , it would be worth a try.
Good luck with it.
Deanna X

n

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

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


Karen x

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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

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.

but even if this vacc only saves one childs life

that child could be your child

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.)

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