HPV Vaccines for girls

Is this required yet (for school). I have not heard anything more about it. Has anyone's daughter(s) had vaccine yet? Anymore info on it? What are your thoughts?

ETA: Will you be getting this vaccine for your daughter whether it is or is not required?

Not a chance in the world. Why would I want to let my daughter be a guinea pig for pharamceutical companies? Who knows what effects there might be in 20 years from it.

And technically, no vaccines are required, you can fill out an exemption form. :)

Oh gosh.....If i had to decide on this vaccine NOW, I think I'd wait a few years longer (for history purposes), but I am not sure what I will do when it comes time to make the decision. My distaste for it is that they market it as a "cancer" vaccine when it is still not definite that cervical cancer is not also caused from smoking and other environmental issues. And that this vaccine just covers a handful of the strains of HPV. When they are not CERTAIN that several other strains can cause cervical cancer.

And cervical cancer is not deadly or detrimental if you have annual pap smears. Although it's very uncomfortable to have the biopsy and treatment.

Also in Europe they are developing a HPV vaccine for BOYS - why aren't we doing that if boys are the carriers? :scratch Seems sexist to me to just treat the receiving end of the issue rather than both sides of the issue.

I'm curious if Cori had a daughter if she would want her to have this vaccine. Since she has probably read a lot about cervical cancer, HPV and cervical health.

It's no longer required. That bill was eliminated. So it's just up to you at this point.

So you can see I'm still very undecided, but i have four more years before I'm faced with this decision.

First, the Texas legislature overturned the mandate with a vote of 181 to 3. It is no longer required, much to the dismay of many parents who quickly rushed out to vaccinate their daughters and are now having to foot the (very expensive) bill themselves because insurance won't cover it if it isn't mandated.

Shannon's right, too, that no vaccine can be truly mandated. Parents have right of refusal, it is just not publicized. Texas allows exemptions for medical reasons, religious reasons and philosophical reasons. You must file your exemption in time and every two years. The hope is that you'll forget to re-file along the way and just vaccinate rather than jumping through the hoops.

I will not vaccinate my kids against HPV. It is poorly tested (IMO) and there are efficacy concerns (the vaccine, while preventing four strains of HPV, could be allowing other strains to flourish...including some of the other oncogenic strains). Additionally, there are ingredients in the vaccines that worry me about long-term safety - things that might happen years down the road but wouldn't be attributed to the vaccine because the vaccine was given sooo long ago.


http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/356/19/1991

And that this vaccine just covers a handful of the strains of HPV. When they are not CERTAIN that several other strains can cause cervical cancer.
I think this may be a typo...not=now, I'm guessing? I'm gonna go with that guess and say :yeah. There are at least 15 strains of HPV that are known to potentially cause cancer. Gardasil only protects against two of those 15. The other two it protects against aren't known to potentially cause cancer (I say potentially because with proper monitoring and health care, cervical cancer could be almost eliminated.

Not a chance in the world. Why would I want to let my daughter be a guinea pig for pharamceutical companies? Who knows what effects there might be in 20 years from it.

And technically, no vaccines are required, you can fill out an exemption form. :)

We will not be getting this vaccine for our daughters. We do not vaccinate at all.
:yeah
also, i don't know your feelings on circumcision, but this vaccine was developed using infant foreskin, which is another reason we would never give it to our daughters.

:yeah
also, i don't know your feelings on circumcision, but this vaccine was developed using infant foreskin, which is another reason we would never give it to our daughters.
Never heard that before...where'd you learn that?

We just had to make this decision with Caroline and Elizabeth. Their doctor recommended they have it but totally left the decision up to us. We chose not to. I am not comfortable with the newness of it and if I remember right I thought I heard something about some girls having problems frm it.
Anyway, we chose no and probably won't ever do it.

No, it is not required for school.
And NO- I will not be getting it for my daughter. At least not until there is more "history" behind it, and she is closer to the age of sexual activity (like 15-17ish).

thank you ladies!! My exemption form JUST came in the mail for my son (you have to get new forms every 2 years btw) and I was curious to know if I needed to send off one for my daughters. I do not want them to get this vaccine at this time. Like some of you said ~ more time and studies need to be done.

Also, I felt the SAME way about the chicken pox vaccine. Not enough studies (IMO) and a year or so back, a strain of chicken pox broke out in our school of children that HAD the vaccine. Go figure!

I'm curious if Cori had a daughter if she would want her to have this vaccine. Since she has probably read a lot about cervical cancer, HPV and cervical health.

Since this is a STD vaccine, I would have open discussions with any daughter about the pros/cons/alternatives. Hopefully by the time she's old enough to have s ex, she's old enough to have a discussion about whether she wants the vaccine or not.

There are risks to every vaccine... and there are also risks to colposcopies, LEEPs, cone biopsies, etc for women with HPV/abnormal paps.

I would encourage her to have annual paps, and especially if she was exposed to HPV, to not smoke.

Smoking + HPV exposure very often leads to those abnormal paps.

Three books worth reading regarding abnormal paps.

http://www.amazon.com/What-Doctor-about-Abnormal-Smears/dp/0446677876/ref=sr_1_10/002-1794822-6401640?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186956936&sr=8-10
http://www.amazon.com/Women-Risk-Gregory-Henderson-M-D/dp/158333128X/ref=pd_sim_b_1_img/002-1794822-6401640?ie=UTF8&qid=1186956936&sr=8-10
http://www.amazon.com/Womens-Encyclopedia-Natural-Medicine-Hudson/dp/0071464735/ref=sr_1_2/002-1794822-6401640?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186957187&sr=1-2

risks to colposcopies, LEEPs, cone biopsies, etc for women with HPV/abnormal paps.

See I didn't know that. Hmmm.....

Here's another question for you Cori - they suggest that you start at age 12 w/ the first vaccine.

Let's say I take Lauren to an GYN for her first discussion with a doctor to discuss sexual / female productive health at age 15. Can't you just start at age 15 if they decide to have the shot then? Is it so procise that you have to have so many shots every 3 years?

I also plan to let Lauren decide, but age 12 is so very young - Lord I hope she's not active at 12 :pray

Never heard that before...where'd you learn that?
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/may/hpv/article_view?b_start:int=1&-C=
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/health/29hpv.html?ex=1187064000&en=fe9178ce969fb4b3&ei=5070
"Instead, said Robert Rose, an immunologist working with Dr. Bonnez, the Rochester team tried grafting bits of foreskin collected from hospital circumcisions and infected with genital wart extract into mice lacking the ability to reject foreign tissue. The resulting cysts contained enough human virus to work with."

:yeah
also, i don't know your feelings on circumcision, but this vaccine was developed using infant foreskin, which is another reason we would never give it to our daughters.

YUCK!

OK, one more reason why we wouldn't do it. :P

Julia, the risks for the various treatments (colpo, LEEP, cone biopsy, etc) would be:
discomfort
bleeding
possible cervical stenosis (difficulty dilating during labor) due to cervical scarring
cervical incompetence -- and thus possible miscarriage or preterm delivery -- with future pregnancies
possible infection
infertility (although rare, problems with fertility can follow any cervical procedure)

So if a woman was done having kids, there wouldn't be a whole lot of risks to consider. But for a women who wants more children, I'd consider all my options and weigh the various therapies and treatments against the level of dysplasia, etc.

Obviously, the risks are less with a colposcopy, a little more so with a LEEP, and then a little bit more so with a cone biopsy.

Most women have fine labors and births after cervical procedures, but it is something to consider when choosing which course of action you take following an abnormal pap.

And back to the vaccine, yes, you can start at 9 or 12 or 15 or 25. They suggest 11 or 12, because you need to have it BEFORE you are infected with the 4 HPV strains. It is not effective against any of the strains you may have previously been infected with. It's typically given in 3-doses over a 6 month period.

Thanks for 'splainin' that Cori :thumbup

We don't vaccinate, but even if we did this is one vaccine they would definately not be getting. I'm soo glad to hear that they turned over the mandate though!

And back to the vaccine, yes, you can start at 9 or 12 or 15 or 25. They suggest 11 or 12, because you need to have it BEFORE you are infected with the 4 HPV strains. It is not effective against any of the strains you may have previously been infected with. It's typically given in 3-doses over a 6 month period.
Both my pedi & OB/GYN have said 11, but definitely before a chance of infection. I have 5 more years to decide before my oldest is that age though. :)

My neighbor is 11 yo and has had 2 of the shots already & believe me, with as strict as her mom is, there is not a chance for any time in the near future for her to worry about getting infected either. :lol

No, it's not, and no, I wouldn't/won't be. (I have an 11 yo DD... and a 4 yo DD... and the answer is, No.)

But now that Vanessa (11 yo DD) is a tween, she knows a lot (I have taught her a lot) about STD's, including HPV, including seeing photos of the side effects (ewww!), and has witnessed two births, and is well-supervised, so hopefully amongst all of that, exposure to HPV is unlikely at this point anyway.

Hmmm.......Now I really want to send Lauren to witness a birth :thumbup Anyone? because I'm not having anymore.

Hmmm.......Now I really want to send Lauren to witness a birth :thumbup Anyone? because I'm not having anymore.

If she can babysit J&L while she watches- I'll take her. :rofl
I really want them there, but am not sure how it will work out logistically.

Well if you don't mind the company - I could come along too :thumbup

If she can babysit J&L while she watches- I'll take her. :rofl
I really want them there, but am not sure how it will work out logistically.

LOL K!

I'll watch them, if I don't have to watch anything else. ;)

Hmmm... we've met once.
But I've "known" you for years, and love you to pieces.

To expose my birthing bits to you and your child...?
I dunno... I'm certainly not shy, so....

Just how many people can one have in a hospital birthing room?
DH, Jacob, Lucy, the photographer, Julia and Lauren- is that too many? :giggle

LOL K!

I'll watch them, if I don't have to watch anything else. ;)

That is actually an excellent idea! We must discuss this further.
And you could watch or not watch whatever you were comfortable with. :lol

I'm glad I stole this thread and made it about my baby's birth. :giggle

eta: Hey- does anyboady else want to come? :anyone

:lol It's okay girl! I thought you were doing a home birth, so I imagined us in the living room! I think it would be quite tight in an LDR.

I guess I can rent her a birthing video and watch it with her, but the pain noises are just better birth control live dontcha think? :lol

:lol
Oh, definitely.
The pain is much more scary in real life!

We had planned to do a homebirth- but with the complications so far... DH is pretty terrified of the unknown, and pretty attached to the doctor.
If we were at home I'd just make it a party... everyone bring a covered dish!

:lol It's okay girl! I thought you were doing a home birth, so I imagined us in the living room! I think it would be quite tight in an LDR.

I guess I can rent her a birthing video and watch it with her, but the pain noises are just better birth control live dontcha think? :lol
you can borrow my copy of "birth as we know it: :)

:lol thanks. I guess I should wait a few more years but I might take you up on that. :thumbup

You can borrow my birth video! :giggle
i never show mine to anyone, it is REALLY graphic :lol