HPV Vaccination programme

Morag

So the forms for this arrived home from the school, the program is being offered to all first year girls. A series of 3 injections over 6/12 months.

Has anyone else gotten these?
Did anyone's daughter do this last year?

pwurple

I have three nieces who all got these over the last couple of years. It is so amazing that they can prevent this now. Cancer research paying off. Hurray!

echo beach

While the vaccine is a wonderful development and all girls should have it it is important to note that it doesn't prevent all types of cervical cancer so regular smears are still needed, and they are now available free of charge to all women aged 25-60.
The combination of the vaccine and early detection should mean and end to the tragic deaths of young women from this preventable disease.

eviltwin

My daughter got it last year. It was a good opportunity for us to talk about cervical cancer something I hadn't done before. She had no side effects and although she hates needles she was glad to get it done.

cynder

Got the form last night, filled it in straight away. She knew all about it thanks to jade goodie.

titchy

after doing a lot of research into gardasil the HPV vaccine I decided against this.
They still don't know if a booster will be needed in five years anyway, so as HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, which is ONE of the causes of cervical cancer,
I will hold off, assuming I have few years, to wait and see if their are more positive than negative stories regarding Gardasil HPV vaccine.

echo beach

titchy wrote: »

I will hold off, assuming I have few years.

It is of course your choice but if you hold off for a few years there is unlikely to be a 'catch-up' programme for girls who miss out at this time.

cynder

titchy wrote: »

after doing a lot of research into gardasil the HPV vaccine I decided against this.
They still don't know if a booster will be needed in five years anyway, so as HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, which is ONE of the causes of cervical cancer,
I will hold off, assuming I have few years, to wait and see if their are more positive than negative stories regarding Gardasil HPV vaccine.

Did you ask what your daughter what she thought?



I know I talked to my lady and she wanted it. Yes she's only 12/13 but it's her body she should have a say in what happens to it...

titchy

Yes I did,

She was happy to wait,
at the time it came up she was watching news about side effects of swine flu jab which she also didnt recieve, so could see both sides of the situation.

The other side was me going through LLETZ

So it wasnt a spur of the moment decision.


The fact is its an injection to prevent against an STD, at 12 I sincerely hoped she wouldnt be exposed to STDs, therefore giving us a couple of years to make a more educated decision, regarding gardasil,

Im not saying shell never receive this vaccination, but its not something we were rushing needlessly into, when we had time on our side.

Like I said they dont even know if boosters will be required she can get it when her classmates receive their boosters, or with another group of first years, or ill pay.

She knows this and that it will be made available to her when she wants.

Ive no doubt you made your decision with your daughter as I did with mine, with their best interests at heart.

But your right it is something that should be discussed, and will be again in our house.

Piliger

This continued vaccination ignorance is so irresponsible and sad for our young women.

echo beach

Ignorance is a lack of knowledge. The poster has informed themselves and come a conclusion you and I don't agree with. We may consider that conclusion ill-informed or misguided but it isn't ignorant.
She is keeping an open mind. In a couple of years there may well be a better alternative but we don't have it at the moment.
Vaccinating so young is necessary so that we catch the most the risk group of girls who tend to drop out of school early and may be lost to the system at that point and never have the opportunity to get the vaccine. I'm sure the poster's daughter doesn't fall into that category so it is reasonable to wait until she is 16-17 and make a decision then.

cynder

titchy wrote: »

Yes I did,

She was happy to wait,
at the time it came up she was watching news about side effects of swine flu jab which she also didnt recieve, so could see both sides of the situation.

The other side was me going through LLETZ

So it wasnt a spur of the moment decision.


The fact is its an injection to prevent against an STD, at 12 I sincerely hoped she wouldnt be exposed to STDs, therefore giving us a couple of years to make a more educated decision, regarding gardasil,

Im not saying shell never receive this vaccination, but its not something we were rushing needlessly into, when we had time on our side.

Like I said they dont even know if boosters will be required she can get it when her classmates receive their boosters, or with another group of first years, or ill pay.

She knows this and that it will be made available to her when she wants.

Ive no doubt you made your decision with your daughter as I did with mine, with their best interests at heart.

But your right it is something that should be discussed, and will be again in our house.

I too didn't rush I to the swine flu one even though my 3 were in the high risk group. We waited around 6 months before we decided to give it to them.

At least this vaccine has been out a lot longer.

Find you here more about the bad reactions that girls have, then ones who have no reaction at all.


I know 4 people who have pre cancerou.s cells there, 2 of them family members opted for full hysterectomys. a friend is having them lasered off every so often, she will end up having a hysterectomy. She just got married and wants another kid, she has kids from a previous relationship .


You do have a bit if time but dont expect her to tell you when she plans to lose her virginity.

Piliger

echo beach wrote: »

Ignorance is a lack of knowledge. The poster has informed themselves and come a conclusion you and I don't agree with. We may consider that conclusion ill-informed or misguided but it isn't ignorant.
She is keeping an open mind. In a couple of years there may well be a better alternative but we don't have it at the moment.
Vaccinating so young is necessary so that we catch the most the risk group of girls who tend to drop out of school early and may be lost to the system at that point and never have the opportunity to get the vaccine. I'm sure the poster's daughter doesn't fall into that category so it is reasonable to wait until she is 16-17 and make a decision then.

Actually no. What kind of 'informed' ? the science and medical information is clear and definitive. There is no 'alternative' valid information to be informed about. Waiting until the girl is 16-17 is not a good medical choice and puts the girl at risk in a way that it irresponsible and is most certainly not reasonable.

titchy

I was not going to reply to your post as I feel that Echo Beach did a great job in their reply but now I will:

Now who is being ignorant?
Gardasil is a vaccination to prevent HPV
HPV is a STD which is ONE cause (albeit the main) of cervical cancer.
it is not a cervical cancer vaccination.

While you may disagree with me, you cannot say that I am not 'informed'
Your right the medical information is clear and definitive, I shortened it above just in case you are not fully aware of it yourself;)

The word reasonable was used: As my daughter is 12/13 It is not unreasonable for me to expect her to remain free from STDs for at least a couple of years.

I am also aware that the bad results are widely broadcast to scaremonger.


I am no where near naive enough to think that she would inform me of her choices too, I believe that she wont have sex for a while giving us all a chance to make an informed decision and a few years would still make her only 15.

Im afraid Im dragging this off topic, turning it into a debate about vaccinations, and facts surrounding them, that wasn't my intention, I merely wanted to offer another side of the coin.

MrCreosote

titchy wrote: »

Now who is being ignorant?
Gardasil is a vaccination to prevent HPV
HPV is a STD which is ONE cause (albeit the main) of cervical cancer.
it is not a cervical cancer vaccination.

While you may disagree with me, you cannot say that I am not 'informed'
Your right the medical information is clear and definitive, I shortened it above just in case you are not fully aware of it yourself;)

The word reasonable was used: As my daughter is 12/13 It is not unreasonable for me to expect her to remain free from STDs for at least a couple of years.

I am also aware that the bad results are widely broadcast to scaremonger.


I am no where near naive enough to think that she would inform me of her choices too, I believe that she wont have sex for a while giving us all a chance to make an informed decision and a few years would still make her only 15.

Im afraid Im dragging this off topic, turning it into a debate about vaccinations, and facts surrounding them, that wasn't my intention, I merely wanted to offer another side of the coin.

HPV is not just the "main" cause of cervical cancer, it is the overwhelming cause. Even if there are new options coming in the future, they'll be even less proven than gardasil. And so what if a booster is required in 5 years- just get a booster then! Simple.

If you're willing to gamble that your daughter won't be sexually active for 5 years or more then that's fine. I wouldn't be. Can't see that there's any benefit to it- the options on the table in 5 years will still be gardasil or nothing. Delaying achieves nothing except increasing the risk (even if that is a slight increase for lots of people).

It's interesting that this debate never seems to arise with rubella vaccination, which also implies that the person receiving it is likely to be sexually active in the future.

Piliger

MrCreosote wrote: »

If you're willing to gamble that your daughter won't be sexually active for 5 years or more then that's fine. I wouldn't be. Can't see that there's any benefit to it- the options on the table in 5 years will still be gardasil or nothing. Delaying achieves nothing except increasing the risk (even if that is a slight increase for lots of people).

Indeed so. The facts are clear and I find that parents who are willing to risk their daughter's health based on being half informed and half ill informed a terrible tragedy that they of course won't have to pay for - it is their daughters who will pay the price. This vaccine actually protects girls who get the vaccine against 4 types of HPV, or human papillomavirus, including the two types that cause most cervical cancers and the two types that cause the most genital warts. It is a no brainer and I urge any and every parent to have their daughters vaccinated without delay long before they risk being sexually active.

lonestargirl

Piliger wrote: »

This vaccine actually protects girls who get the vaccine against 4 types of HPV, or human papillomavirus, including the two types that cause most cervical cancers and the two types that cause the most genital warts. It is a no brainer and I urge any and every parent to have their daughters vaccinated without delay long before they risk being sexually active.

Gardasil includes protection against the 16 strain of HPV. This is linked to oropharyngeal cancer and there is a rise worldwide in the proportion of H+N cancers linked to HPV. These are very nasty cancers.

I have both a sister and sister-in-law in their late teens. As soon a the vaccine came out my parents paid for my sister to have it at the GP. Everytime that myself and my husband suggest to my in laws that they get their daughter vaccinated they agree that it's a good idea but they haven't made any push to do it yet. I think they are not ready to believe that their little girl is all grown up yet.

titchy

Why oh why aren' t posts read correctly before replying ?

My post was even qouted! And then what I actually said was changed to suit what is thought.

I said main you said overwhelming whats the difference?

I never once said I was waiting for an alternative to gardasil

or that I would wait 5 years, I said a few years making her still only 15,

Delaying by those few years gives us more information on gardasil

They dont even know if a booster is needed actually after 4 years (my error)

And whats the point in her putting something in her system now, that we are not 100% sure about,if she doesnt need it for a few years anyway.

I already said Im not naive but I also dont believe its unreasonable to expect any 12 13 or 14 year old not to be sexually active.

I cant comment on rubella issue you raised as I dont know enough about it only to add that this vaccination is newer therefore it raised more questions for me than other long standing ones.

I really am bowing out now as I have little interest in debating the issue when my points are being changed to suit rebutels

Like i said
Just offering another side that I dont believe this vaccination has to be rushed into at age 12/13 .

I can only add that it has nothing to do with her growing up..thats how it should be.

Piliger

lonestargirl wrote: »

Gardasil includes protection against the 16 strain of HPV. This is linked to oropharyngeal cancer and there is a rise worldwide in the proportion of H+N cancers linked to HPV. These are very nasty cancers.

I was quoting from the actual Gardasil-Merck web site but you may have additional information.

"GARDASIL is the only human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine that helps protect against 4 types of HPV. In girls and young women ages 9 to 26, GARDASIL helps protect against 2 types of HPV that cause about 75% of cervical cancer cases, and 2 more types that cause 90% of genital warts cases. In boys and young men ages 9 to 26, GARDASIL helps protect against 90% of genital warts cases.

GARDASIL also helps protect girls and young women ages 9 to 26 against 70% of vaginal cancer cases and up to 50% of vulvar cancer cases."

The work on this vaccine is extensive and probably is one of the most researched and tested vaccines ever. People who throw 'doubt' on it without any evidence whatsoever are quite disgraceful.

I have both a sister and sister-in-law in their late teens. As soon a the vaccine came out my parents paid for my sister to have it at the GP. Everytime that myself and my husband suggest to my in laws that they get their daughter vaccinated they agree that it's a good idea but they haven't made any push to do it yet. I think they are not ready to believe that their little girl is all grown up yet.

It must be incredibly frustrating. They are gambling with the health and possibly the life of their daughter, without any evidence to support them, and it is she who will have to suffer any negative outcome not them. Girls as young as 12 and 13 in Ireland are experimenting with oral sex and other forms that can easily transmit these viruses.

There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.

Ciara 5

I missed out on getting the vaccination in 1st year by a year, I really wanted it. Fortunately it was brought back into the school for 6th years last year so I was able to get it

The Princess Bride

I have to say,I can see exactly where Titchy is coming from and have found myself in quite a similar situation.
I have never consented to any vaccination programme for my children without researching it -and thereafter making an informed decision based on this research.

In relation to the HPV vaccination programme-I felt that my daughters should not get the vaccinations at the recommended age-I personally felt it was too new a vaccine and longterm side effects weren't(couldn't be obviously!) known at this early stage.

However.
I advised them to decide for themselves at age 16 when they are able to consent for it themselves; knowing that at this stage ,the scientists will have more knowledge on the programme and it should therefore be safer for my daughters.
My older girl (17) has now decided to go ahead with the programme and I am happy that she has made the choice now,as opposed to then.
My younger girl (15) will most likely follow down the same route with the catch up programme next year.

Funnily enough-I don't consider myself to be an irresponsible parent in having taken this decision-I've always had an open and easy relationship with my children.
I've never handed over sex ed to the schools and feel this is where other parents go wrong.
My children= my responsiblity.

My biggest issue with the HPV vacc.prog is that it should be offered to boys also.
This is the part that isn't rocket science!

echo beach

msthe80s wrote: »

My biggest issue with the HPV vacc.prog is that it should be offered to boys also.
This is the part that isn't rocket science!

Cost is the big issue. It took a lot of horse-trading to get it for girls. When the vaccine is off patent (a good while yet) and cheaper we could see the programme extended to boys and to women who didn't get it in school.
At one time only teenage girls got rubella vaccine but now it is given to all children.

The Princess Bride

I agree,echo beach.
However,if they increased the age by one year-perhaps-they'd be able to vaccinate boys.
What I can't understand is why so few people don't seem to query why boys should get it too.
I wait in hope.

(love the username,by the way, I'm singing now....)

echo beach

msthe80s wrote: »

However,if they increased the age by one year-perhaps-they'd be able to vaccinate boys.

No, you would still have the same numbers of girls to vaccinate, just doing it a year later.
Not sure if you can have boys vaccinated privately.

pwurple

echo beach wrote: »

No, you would still have the same numbers of girls to vaccinate, just doing it a year later.
Not sure if you can have boys vaccinated privately.

You can vaccinate anyone privately for anything available. You go to your GP, get a prescription for it, get it filled by the pharmacist, and bring it to the GP or nurse for administration. We are in contact with immunosupressed kids as a family, so we vaccinate for as much as we can, so that we are not endangering them. Chicken pox, rotavirus, the respiratory one, flu every year.

Some of those are expensive, chicken pox is about the cheapest at 50 euro, but needs two doses. the respiratory one is 800 euro, but with the prescription claim form you pay a maximum of 140 per month on presriptions.

I think it is hard for people to see why to vaccinate when they are not directly familiar people who got it.

With HPV, you may reasonably expect her to remain inactive, but what abut the risk she might be raped, or just be 'fooling around'. HPV can be carried in the mouth or hands as well. The consequences of getting infected are death. I wouldn't risk it.

sillysmiles

msthe80s wrote: »

My biggest issue with the HPV vacc.prog is that it should be offered to boys also.
This is the part that isn't rocket science!

This to me is the biggest issue with the vaccination program. Herd immunity will not be established with only vaccinating half the population.

Doom

Hi, my daughter got the 1st vaccine today, she has fainted about 6 times today....anyone else have these experiences?

January

Doom, I'm sure you're aware we cannot give medical advice here. Get your daughter seen to by the hospital urgently.

Doom

January wrote: »

Doom, I'm sure you're aware we cannot give medical advice here. Get your daughter seen to by the hospital urgently.

I'm not looking for advice, I'm asking for peoples experience of any side effects, thank you!
My daughters fainting spell happened with medical people in attendance, she is much better now.
It would appear that reports of fainting is a side effect that is been suppressed.......

pwurple

Doom wrote: »

I'm not looking for advice, I'm asking for peoples experience of any side effects, thank you!
My daughters fainting spell happened with medical people in attendance, she is much better now.
It would appear that reports of fainting is a side effect that is been suppressed.......

If you have had an adverse reaction to anything, I hope you reported it to the Irish Medical Board through your public health nurse or GP. This is the only way they get reported. Adverse reactions are not suppressed, most likely they are not reported by the patient.

If you are in the UK, you can use the Yellow Card ADR online system to do this.

CookieMonster.x

I am in 6th year and I decided not to get it. I intend to get it in the next year. I was worried about any side effects. I know it has been around around 8 (?) years and has been administered a lot but I just didn't want to take the chance at the moment when even being sick for one day (especially as I had something on the next day) would mean a lot. Plus I don't like injections and would rather get it outside of school. I do intend to get it as i think it is inportant but just not right now.