HPV Vaccines

[TurtleDude]

recently, there is a TV ad recommending HPV vaccines for teens. Never gave it much thought though one of my friends-a pharmacist, and mother of two now 20 something girls, noted she was having her daughters vaccinated when they were first hitting puberty years ago. My now college freshman son-his pediatrician, my wife's best friend, suggested he get the vaccine as well, which he did. Again, never gave it much thought until my son told me one of his best friends, now a year or two older, was just told by the oncologist that he had probably less than a year to live due to an invasive and aggressive form of anal cancer caused by HPV. Now I am paying attention and thinking how things would be so much different if this young man had received the vaccine a few years ago.

So my suggestion is if you have teen age kids, get the vaccine. the down side is way way too high

 

[Johnson]

recently, there is a TV ad recommending HPV vaccines for teens. Never gave it much thought though one of my friends-a pharmacist, and mother of two now 20 something girls, noted she was having her daughters vaccinated when they were first hitting puberty years ago. My now college freshman son-his pediatrician, my wife's best friend, suggested he get the vaccine as well, which he did. Again, never gave it much thought until my son told me one of his best friends, now a year or two older, was just told by the oncologist that he had probably less than a year to live due to an invasive and aggressive form of anal cancer caused by HPV. Now I am paying attention and thinking how things would be so much different if this young man had received the vaccine a few years ago.

So my suggestion is if you have teen age kids, get the vaccine. the down side is way way too high

A perfect quote for this would be "you would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it."

 

[Parrish]

Great post, TurtleDude.

 

[Mach]

Yes indeed, preach it! We should eradicate these easily spread, potentially fatal diseases one day.

 

[JamesBY]

Outstanding post, turtledude!

I knew a colleague who had her son vaccinated at 15 but would not have her daughter vaccinated, thinking the fear of HPV would keep her as a chaste Christian virgin.

 

[TurtleDude]

Outstanding post, turtledude!

I knew a colleague who had her son vaccinated at 15 but would not have her daughter vaccinated, thinking the fear of HPV would keep her as a chaste Christian virgin.

When my good friend-essentially a libertarian but a Kerry supporter when we met-on a board like this-now she is one of our family's best friends-said she was having her two high achieving daughters vaccinated-she also noted quickly that she didn't expect her girls were going to be "sluts" but she once was a gorgeous teenager and she knows what often happens when the hormones kick in. She was the first parent I knew who told me she was going to have this done for her daughters and I, being the son of a woman who once ran a planned parenthood and gave me a lecture on sex ed when I was 13 and a pack of condoms when I left for college, am not one to judge or even assume someone wanting their child to be vaccinated, suggests the child is promiscuous.

What I am thinking is a kid I know enough to be saddened by his prognosis is most likely will never see his 22nd birthday because of this. One of my good friends is a urologist and I saw him on the tennis court today and he noted that this form of cancer can easily come from straight sex-and not to assume (I did not) that the victim had engaged in particularly risky activity.

 

[RAMOSS]

recently, there is a TV ad recommending HPV vaccines for teens. Never gave it much thought though one of my friends-a pharmacist, and mother of two now 20 something girls, noted she was having her daughters vaccinated when they were first hitting puberty years ago. My now college freshman son-his pediatrician, my wife's best friend, suggested he get the vaccine as well, which he did. Again, never gave it much thought until my son told me one of his best friends, now a year or two older, was just told by the oncologist that he had probably less than a year to live due to an invasive and aggressive form of anal cancer caused by HPV. Now I am paying attention and thinking how things would be so much different if this young man had received the vaccine a few years ago.

So my suggestion is if you have teen age kids, get the vaccine. the down side is way way too high

That is what killed Farrah Faucet too. It also could potentially cause throat cancer.

 

[Crovax]

recently, there is a TV ad recommending HPV vaccines for teens. Never gave it much thought though one of my friends-a pharmacist, and mother of two now 20 something girls, noted she was having her daughters vaccinated when they were first hitting puberty years ago. My now college freshman son-his pediatrician, my wife's best friend, suggested he get the vaccine as well, which he did. Again, never gave it much thought until my son told me one of his best friends, now a year or two older, was just told by the oncologist that he had probably less than a year to live due to an invasive and aggressive form of anal cancer caused by HPV. Now I am paying attention and thinking how things would be so much different if this young man had received the vaccine a few years ago.

So my suggestion is if you have teen age kids, get the vaccine. the down side is way way too high

If its such a help why do they need to advertise? I saw the ad last night and it had me thinking that. If it works so well why would they be advertising, wouldnt the doctor just tell kids they need it like TB, tetanus, ect. None of those need million dollar ad campaigns

 

[TurtleDude]

If its such a help why do they need to advertise? I saw the ad last night and it had me thinking that. If it works so well why would they be advertising, wouldnt the doctor just tell kids they need it like TB, tetanus, ect. None of those need million dollar ad campaigns

I don't know, maybe because some people aren't told by their doctors? I am sure there are people out there who think: my child won't have sex until marriage and the boy or girl he or she marries will be a virgin too

 

[TurtleDude]

That is what killed Farrah Faucet too. It also could potentially cause throat cancer.

the doctor friend of mine-who sees it a lot being a urologist notes that while the throat version USUALLY comes from oral sex and the anal version comes from anal sex, he also notes that vaginal infections can lead to anal cancer and infections of the penis can too.

 

[Crovax]

I don't know, maybe because some people aren't told by their doctors? I am sure there are people out there who think: my child won't have sex until marriage and the boy or girl he or she marries will be a virgin too

I can see that, I mean if there was a HIV vaccine would everyone get it?

But on the other hand you can get HPV other ways

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/hpv-without-having-sex

 

[RAMOSS]

the doctor friend of mine-who sees it a lot being a urologist notes that while the throat version USUALLY comes from oral sex and the anal version comes from anal sex, he also notes that vaginal infections can lead to anal cancer and infections of the penis can too.

I will also point out that the vaccine , after study , turns out to be more effective than anticipated, since it appears to protect against more variations than it was thought it would

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/201...e-effective-than-thought-Study/6141475175709/

 

[TurtleDude]

I can see that, I mean if there was a HIV vaccine would everyone get it?

But on the other hand you can get HPV other ways

It Turns Out You Can Get HPV Without Having Sex | Women's Health

sounds like an even better reason to vaccinate your kids

 

[Crovax]

sounds like an even better reason to vaccinate your kids

Agreed, theres probably a good reason to do so. The ad just rubbed me the wrong way, like it was a scam.

 

[Zyphlin]

If its such a help why do they need to advertise? I saw the ad last night and it had me thinking that. If it works so well why would they be advertising, wouldnt the doctor just tell kids they need it like TB, tetanus, ect. None of those need million dollar ad campaigns

Likely two reasons.

First, there's no stigma associated with preventing lockjaw if you step on a nail, or preventing a traditional spread bacterial disease like TB...there IS a significant stigma with preventing something like HPV, since it's often sexually transmitted. There's a sizable religious community within this country who view anything that essentially makes more casual sex safer as a bad, negative, questionable, or "not something you speak about in good company" type of thing. For some, the actual benefits of it are irrelevant; in their mind, the fact it makes it safer to have casual sex means it's going to make someone more likely to have casual sex and therefore its bad and shouldn't be done.

Second, you have to think about age. The tetenaus vaccine has existed since 1924. TB's vaccine has existed since 1921. Part of why they are the "norm" is because we've now gone generations of people getting them. The doctors, school administrators, and other folks of today were kids getting the shots yesterday, because those kids parents were getting the shots as kids. Conversely, the HPV vaccine came into existance in 2006. It's extremely new compared to most of the common vaccines you think of. So while the benefits of it can be quite significant, it's not entered into the societal mindset as a "normal" and "routine" vaccine yet. What's more, I would wager that FAR less people know that such a vaccine even exists compared to some of the others, specifically because when they were the age that they were getting vaccines the thing didn't even exist and most people simply remember the ones that they got or their children had to get.

 

[Crovax]

Likely two reasons.

First, there's no stigma associated with preventing lockjaw if you step on a nail, or preventing a traditional spread bacterial disease like TB...there IS a significant stigma with preventing something like HPV, since it's often sexually transmitted. There's a sizable religious community within this country who view anything that essentially makes more casual sex safer as a bad, negative, questionable, or "not something you speak about in good company" type of thing. For some, the actual benefits of it are irrelevant; in their mind, the fact it makes it safer to have casual sex means it's going to make someone more likely to have casual sex and therefore its bad and shouldn't be done.

Second, you have to think about age. The tetenaus vaccine has existed since 1924. TB's vaccine has existed since 1921. Part of why they are the "norm" is because we've now gone generations of people getting them. The doctors, school administrators, and other folks of today were kids getting the shots yesterday, because those kids parents were getting the shots as kids. Conversely, the HPV vaccine came into existance in 2006. It's extremely new compared to most of the common vaccines you think of. So while the benefits of it can be quite significant, it's not entered into the societal mindset as a "normal" and "routine" vaccine yet. What's more, I would wager that FAR less people know that such a vaccine even exists compared to some of the others, specifically because when they were the age that they were getting vaccines the thing didn't even exist and most people simply remember the ones that they got or their children had to get.

The meningitis vaccine is pretty new I didnt have to have one until I went to college and it didnt need to advertise :shrug: Guess the times they are changin, doctors gotta pay of off those 2nd mortgages

 

[Carjosse]

The meningitis vaccine is pretty new I didnt have to have one until I went to college and it didnt need to advertise :shrug: Guess the times they are changin, doctors gotta pay of off those 2nd mortgages

Everyone had to get the meningitis vaccine when I was in Grade 4 in Ontario and all the girls had to get the HPV vaccine as well.

 

[Crovax]

Everyone had to get the meningitis vaccine when I was in Grade 4 in Ontario and all the girls had to get the HPV vaccine as well.

Like is said its probably a good vaccine. If the govt wants to do an ad campaign, good. If the schools want to require it, double good. But when a hundred billion dollar company runs an ad telling me that if I dont pay them money my kids will die I just get the feeling of being scammed, thats all.

 

[Carjosse]

Like is said its probably a good vaccine. If the govt wants to do an ad campaign, good. If the schools want to require it, double good. But when a hundred billion dollar company runs an ad telling me that if I dont pay them money my kids will die I just get the feeling of being scammed, thats all.

It is illegal for them to do that here. It is illegal to advertise drugs, even vaccines to my understanding.

 

[RAMOSS]

The meningitis vaccine is pretty new I didnt have to have one until I went to college and it didnt need to advertise :shrug: Guess the times they are changin, doctors gotta pay of off those 2nd mortgages

When it comes to vaccines, there is very little if any profit associated with them.

 

[Crovax]

When it comes to vaccines, there is very little if any profit associated with them.

Yeah Merck is just doing this out of the goodness of their heart :roll:

 

[TurtleDude]

Yeah Merck is just doing this out of the goodness of their heart :roll:

I don't even recall who funded the advertisement. I really didn't pay attention to it (since my kid already had it) until I learned that the kid fishing in our pond with my son was terminal.

 

[Parrish]

It is illegal for them to do that here. It is illegal to advertise drugs, even vaccines to my understanding.

Pneumonia, Whooping Cough, Flu, Shingles...all advertised. Also Gardasil.

 

[Carjosse]

Pneumonia, Whooping Cough, Flu, Shingles...all advertised. Also Gardasil.

I have only ever seen those on American TV channels or in American magazines and of course the government is exempt for like flu shots and the like.

 

[TurtleDude]

Pneumonia, Whooping Cough, Flu, Shingles...all advertised. Also Gardasil.

I think he is talking about Canada vs the USA. I have seen those advertisements down here. I haven't been to Canada in years (back when I played pro squash) and I certainly don't recall what advertisements were on Canadian TV in the 1980s