HPV immunisation

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Schoolbaglady
Posts: 46
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:08 pm
Location: North London

HPV immunisation

Post by Schoolbaglady »

Just wanted to canvass any Forum views on the pros and cons of the above.

Daughter (Year Eight) has reached the target age for the initial vaccination and has come home from school with the NHS factsheet and consent form, to be returned by Monday.

Trawling the internet has predictably produced an overwhelming amount of info both for and against. I am trying to balance a vague sense of unease over possible long term effects (given the newness of both types of vaccine), reported side effects (considered by the manufactures to be within acceptable parameters - but still..) and educational counter measures like discussion of safer ******** practices (in future, one hopes, she's still only 12!!), good diet (strong immune system, etc), against effective and safe protection.

Anyway I would be grateful if there are any other parents out there with views on this. The immunisation process is only being offered to girls at present but apparently may become available to boys in the future, so not necessarily gender specific!
sterling
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Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 9:39 am

Post by sterling »

It was a while ago that it was broadcast, but OH and I saw or listened to a programme about the vaccine which we found very interesting.

One of the things it mentioned - apart from the incredible amount of marketing money that's gone into it - was that they only expect the effectiveness to be around 10 years.

I don't know if there's more data around now (can Herman help?), but since OH and I were in our mid-20s before we could have caught the virus (if you know what I mean....!) it would therefore have been a waste of time/money/stress.

I think we've pretty much decided that when the time comes we'll opt out and let our DD make the decision herself when she's older. Certainly her principles at the moment seem similar to ours, so catching it in the next year or two seems unlikely...
Snowdrops
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Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:20 pm

Post by Snowdrops »

I came across a report in the Mail on 6 april 2009 which featured 5 young girls aged 12 through 18 who had suffered variously blackouts, seizures, 'feeling ill', chronic fatigue syndrome and partial paralysis. - and these are just the short term effects.

What worries me with any 'new' vaccination is no-one knows what the long term effects are 10/20/30 years down the line.

As said by Sterling, the effectivity of it is only predicted to last around ten years anyway!

Obviously there is a lot more to be read regarding this subject, but on the face of it, at this moment in time, we will be opting out of it.

Having suffered one daughter having long term after effects from vaccinations, we are not willing to chance it with another.

If there is any more information/different statistics on this vaccination I'd be interested to read it.
zee
Posts: 360
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2009 10:43 am

Post by zee »

Snowdrops wrote:I came across a report in the Mail
With respect, the Daily Mail is, invariably, a very poor source of information about scientific and medical matters. It is nutorious for contradictory and misinterpreted scare stories.

I realise there are concerns about it (though having boys, I haven't looked in detail), but bear in mind that the net is a fertile place for unverified stories to propagate, and there comes a time where you read something so often, that that almost lends it an air of authenticity.

I'm not suggesting what you, or anyone else, should decide, but just alerting people to weigh up the validity of the "evidence" they find.
Looking for help
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Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:12 am
Location: Berkshire

Post by Looking for help »

I think sadly because of all the alarm about previous vaccinations being possibly unsafe people are concerned about new ones. My older daughters (15 and 17) have not been offered the vaccination, I think they are too old ( :!: ), and I would have to read up very carefully all the evidence before I made any decision about them having it.

LFH
Snowdrops
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Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:20 pm

Post by Snowdrops »

It's OK Zee, I know what the Daily Mail stands for. In fact, I don't care what paper it is, I would take any newspaper or magazine or tv reporting with a pinch of salt. I read from a variety of sources abd weigh up the facts against each other and my own conscience.

Yes LFH, I think also you are right. The concern is because it's a new vaccination. But precisely because it's a new vaccination, and no-one knows the long term outcomes, is why people are treating it cautiously.

As I said, I'd be interested to read any other information/statistics on the issue, especially any latest figures.
hermanmunster
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Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Post by hermanmunster »

Hi

FWIW (and it is a personal decision) DD has just had the first 2 of the injections.

The reason for giving the injection to the 12 /13 year ols is that the effect did not seem to be so good i.e. in producing antibodies when the girls were a bit older.

I've seen quite a few people with cancer of the cervix and no amount of safe s*x advice would have made any difference - most of the time it is just bad luck, acquiring a virus that hangs around and also getting hooked on the cigarettes too - hoping tha teensgers will always use protection a risky strategy (the hoping I mean) - many claim to always use condoms but clearly don't - I suppose they tell us what they think we want to hear.

One of the vaccines also protects against genital warts - believe me these are far far more common than Ca Cervix and from hours doing GUM clinics, take forever to treat - leaving unfortunately a strong risk of the warts coming back.

Always very difficult to decide about these things and there seesm to be a new vaccine so frequently - also it is the unknown, I and all my colleagues will happily have the seasonal flu vacc in a few weeks , but the H1N1 - now that is another matter
Chelmsford mum
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Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 7:16 pm

Post by Chelmsford mum »

My eldest had the vaccine last year and next DD due next year.
For what it is worth, she is in a girls' school and not one of the 120 had any side affects except a sore arm and self pity. :roll:

I , as a practising Christian, hope that her lifestyle as she gets older would not put her in a high risk group and I certainly know Christians/ other religious families e.g muslim families who have boycotted the jabs.

However her life choices will one day be her life choices.Also even if she lives a fairly monogomous lifestyle, who can vouch for the life partner that she falls in love with.

I don't want to be indelicate in what I post but I am sure you get my drift.

If there is the slightest chance that this jab will protect her from a potentially life threatening condition then I am all for it.

I googled the jab, of course there are reports of side affects but there are with so many things.I had another bout of Labyrinthitis this week and the leaflet with the tablets was scary but the alternative was not being able to function.So I took them and am soo much better.

A tiny risk worth taking I feel to safeguard them and others for the future.

Hope all that helps.Just my opinion. 8)
resmum
Posts: 139
Joined: Mon Sep 11, 2006 11:53 pm
Location: wolverhampton

HPV

Post by resmum »

The vaccine that protects against genital warts is NOT the vaccine being offered in the UK. That is called Gardasil and is the vaccine currently being offered in the US.

The information leaflet sent out last year very slyly implied that the Cervarix vaccine had been given extensively - the language was something like "hundreds of thousands of young women in the US have had their vaccinations", when in fact they had received an entirely different vaccine. The leaflet was changed when there were complaints.

In fact the first extensive use of the vaccine was last year when it was offered to year 8 girls across the country.

My daughter did not have the vaccine but of those girls who did, several fainted and some felt very ill, possibly from the effect of lining girls up at school like lambs to the slaughter, possibly from the effect of the vaccine.

If you are considering the vaccine (personally I don't think its something you need rush into - we were offered the chance to have the vaccine again this year) then insist they supply you with a manufacturers package insert and read it carefully BEFORE you sign the consent form. The health authority will be reluctant to provide this but as usual the information supplied to parents barely mentions possible side effects.
Chelmsford mum
Posts: 2113
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 7:16 pm

Post by Chelmsford mum »

This was sooo not our experience.We were given extensive information by the health authority and websites to follow up.
My DD has friends in other schools who "fainted" but nothing that a drink and a period out of lessons didn't cure ( :roll: ).Girls can build eachother up to hysteria.
I take some comfort from the fact that several of my daughter's peer group who have parents who are doctors ( like Hermanmunster) allowed their girls to have the vaccine and I discussed the matter with them as well as doing internet research.I do not pretend to be as medically informed as them.This thread was just asking for opinion.
No vaccine is without risk but this has to be weighed up against the risks associated with hpv .
We certainly did not rush into the decision and I am sure no responsible parent would.
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