Gardasil - HPV vaccine

[jgk3]

What do you think of the HPV vaccine and how it was made mandatory for girls to get at school in certain states? My sister had the choice to not get it and after her own readings about it, she chose not to.

[Siggie]

Re: Rising number of unvaccinated children in California

I don't know much about the hpv vaccine, so I can't comment. However there are screenings for it and it's not communicable in the same way as measles. It's not like a girl w/ hpv is going to be spreading it just by being in school.

[KanadaHye]

Re: Rising number of unvaccinated children in California

What do you think of the HPV vaccine and how it was made mandatory for girls to get at school in certain states? My sister had the choice to not get it and after her own readings about it, she chose not to.

"Every year in the United States, about 11,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and almost 4,000 die from this disease. Most cases of cervical cancer and all cases of genital warts are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). The HPV vaccine, Gardasil ®, protects against the types of HPV that most commonly cause cervical cancer and genital warts."


Doesn't sound like an epidemic to me. Does this warrant a reason for every girl be given the vaccine at a young age prior to them being "sexually active". Just because 11,000 out of 300,000,000 are diagnosed with the disease. Talk about using an entire generation as an experiment. Sounds like somebody is out to make money.

[jgk3]

Re: Rising number of unvaccinated children in California

The hpv case does sounds fishy to me. I heard it's supposed to protect from penises that don't get thoroughly washed before sex, which are the cause of this wart problem :/

[Sip]

Re: Rising number of unvaccinated children in California

My father's sister died of cervical cancer at a very young age (in her early 20s). If this vaccine had been available 30 years ago, my father's family would have lived a VERY different life .... obviously I can't know how it would have changed things, but I suspect they would have perhaps had faaaaaaaaaar less grief, sadness, and emptiness in their lives ... I can imagine it's not easy watching a young 20-something old girl just waste away to cancer.

[KanadaHye]

Re: Rising number of unvaccinated children in California

My father's sister died of cervical cancer at a very young age (in her early 20s). If this vaccine had been available 30 years ago, my father's family would have lived a VERY different life .... obviously I can't know how it would have changed things, but I suspect they would have perhaps had faaaaaaaaaar less grief, sadness, and emptiness in their lives ... I can imagine it's not easy watching a young 20-something old girl just waste away to cancer.

According to their reasoning for the vaccine, your father's sister would have had been in contact with some dirty men. I'm not implying anything, I'm just saying that's what it protects against.

"As HPV vaccines are administered to girls who are not yet sexually active and haven't been exposed to the virus, critics fear it confers tacit approval of premarital intercourse. Others worry that vaccination will reduce Pap test screening or will prove ineffective over time. Still others question the vaccine's value for money."

This is some news about the vaccine and its implementation in Canada
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/177/10/1169

As usual, the media is playing down any of the negative impact from the vaccines. And I love how "reporters" can never get their information right anymore. Everything is a big secret.

The adverse events data comes from the US Food and Drug Administration's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, as of June 30, there were 2531 adverse reports, including 9 deaths, out of 7 million doses dispensed. The figures, however, can include multiple reports of the same event, since physicians, manufacturers and patients report to the same system.

As 4 provinces began immunizing schoolgirls to prevent the human papillomavirus, a watchdog group in the United States warned of dangerous adverse events stemming from the vaccine's delivery — concern government regulators dismiss.

Quebec recently became the fifth province to announce its HPV plans, unveiling a "voluntary" program that will vaccinate girls as early as grade 4.

Public health officials in Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador began administering the Merck Frosst vaccine Gardasil to select groups of girls (grades 6, 7 or 8) in September, just as the US advocacy group Judicial Watch released documents obtained through Freedom of Information indicating that 3 deaths and 1637 adverse events occurred after the vaccine was administered (prior to May 15).

[Sip]

Re: Rising number of unvaccinated children in California

According to their reasoning for the vaccine, your father's sister would have had been in contact with some dirty men. I'm not implying anything, I'm just saying that's what it protects against.

So what is the solution? Abstinence? Unfortunately that has been a HUGE failure so far:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3846687.stm

* Study of 12,000 aged 12 to 18
* Six years on, 99% of non-pledgers had sex before marriage
* So too did 88% of pledgers
* Pledgers first had sex an average of 18 months later
* Both had similar rates of STDs
*Pledgers 'much less likely' to use contraception
Columbia University study

Let's not even talk about cases of rape or men that aren't necessarily "dirty" but really don't know they are infected themselves.

[KanadaHye]

Re: Rising number of unvaccinated children in California

So what is the solution? Abstinence? Unfortunately that has been a HUGE failure so far:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3846687.stm

* Study of 12,000 aged 12 to 18
* Six years on, 99% of non-pledgers had sex before marriage
* So too did 88% of pledgers
* Pledgers first had sex an average of 18 months later
* Both had similar rates of STDs
*Pledgers 'much less likely' to use contraception
Columbia University study

Let's not even talk about cases of rape or men that aren't necessarily "dirty" but really don't know they are infected themselves.

The UK and US have the poorest sex education programs and the highest rates of teenage pregnancy and STD. The Netherlands and Sweden have the most coherent and resourced programs, and the lowest rates of pregnancy and STD.

Abstinence is 100% effective. Or do you argue that fact? Sure it's not realistic but it's bulletproof. So we shouldn't be seeing any cases of cervical cancer then in the future if this vaccine works. Of course they will argue that not everyone got the vaccine... see the problem?

[Sip]

Re: Rising number of unvaccinated children in California

Abstinence is 100% effective. Or do you argue that fact?

I wouldn't say abstinence is 100% effective ... it is very effective sure, but nothing can be 100% effective. There is often some ways to get STDs without having sex (in case of HIV for example, blood transfusion, or needle sharing when doing drugs, etc). There is also of course always the matter of rape. You can abstain from sex but if you get raped, you are still at risk of all sorts of things.

But let's even say abstinence is very very effective in preventing STDs. The problem is, as the numbers in my previous post show, not too many abstain.

It's a bit like saying if you never eat, you will not get food poisoning.

[KanadaHye]

Re: Rising number of unvaccinated children in California

I wouldn't say abstinence is 100% effective ... it is very effective sure, but nothing can be 100% effective. There is often some ways to get STDs without having sex (in case of HIV for example, blood transfusion, or needle sharing when doing drugs, etc). There is also of course always the matter of rape. You can abstain from sex but if you get raped, you are still at risk of all sorts of things.

But let's even say abstinence is very very effective in preventing STDs. The problem is, as the numbers in my previous post show, not too many abstain.

It's a bit like saying if you never eat, you will not get food poisoning.

Nah, you just have to know where the food has been before you put it in your mouth... no pun intended It all comes down to trust, if you can't trust people to tell you their past, and you can't trust people who prepared your food, how can you trust people who created a vaccine for something so obscure just to make money?

The entire HPV thing is disturbing. I guess only time will tell whether or not those that took the vaccine and those that didn't made the right choice.