Should I take the HPV vaccine?

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sophia “The only way to get HPV is through sexual contact. So you don’t need the vaccine. And if you’re planning to wait until marriage anyway,”

I do not agree with this advice, what if this wonderful young women gets raped by somebody with hpv? there is nothing wrong with trying to protect yourself from disease.
 
When a man gets HPV, it doesn’t really have any ill effects. He might get (basically unnoticable) warts on his privates, but nothing will come of them. In women though, it is extremely dangerous because it increases the chances of cervical cancer by a LOT. So it might be hard to get boys to get the vaccine too, because the ones that will be having sex with lots of different girls and spreading it likely aren’t the ones that are the most compassionate.
It can cause cancer with men as well. Also sexual contact is not the only way to contract this, but is usually the largest avenue. But yes, cervical cancer is directly related to HPV.
 
There isn’t one for boys 😦
It will be the same vaccine as for women. It is just not available to them yet.
There was another quote that there are not ill effects of HPV for men. That is not true. Men can get penile cancer from HPV- just not real common.
 
My post from a similar thread in the Fall:

For the record-- I have a PhD in Molecular Genetics
I managed a Vaccine Research Lab for 3 yrs
I was HPV-positive and had pre-cancerous cervical cells (detected by routine PAP)
I have 3 daughters (ages 9 - 12)
And I will NOT be getting them vaccinated with the HPV vaccine (Gardasil).

A brief tutorial:
  1. Gardasil does not prevent cervical cancer. It does prevent infection from about 70% of the HPV viruses thought to be involved in cervical cancer (the 4 most prevalent strains). About 75% of sexually active women will be infected with HPV “at some time in their lives”. But 91% of HPV infections are cleared by the person’s own immune system within 2 yrs of infection! It is persistent HPV infections that may, “sometimes”, progress to cancer. So the real stats are that less than 10% of women infected with HPV ever develop persistent infections - and not all persistent infections progress towards cancer - in fact, only a fraction of persistent infections ever become cancer. Last year the CDC reported that, “fewer than one-100th of 1% of the 108 million US women older than 18 (that’s 0.009%) get cervical cancer. And even fewer die from it.” And this was BEFORE there was even a vaccine!!
  2. Note – 91% of men who are infected with HPV will also clear it naturally (as above). So even if any female marries a man who was not chaste before he met her (or she is raped), that man would have had to a) had relations with an HPV-positive woman and b) been one of the 9% who does not clear the infection himself then c) his new wife has to be one of the 9% who will not clear the infection that he passes on. It is statistically unlikely that women need to be paranoid about future spouses. People with more partners (who themselves had more partners) are more at risk of HPV because of all of the multiplied statistics of all of the sexual partners. (Yes, sadly there have been unlucky individuals who became HPV positive from very few encounters. But this is not the norm)
  3. Cervical cancer is not a contagious disease! And it is NOT an epidemic. (So why the rush to vaccinate thousands of schoolgirls? ) Merck likes to advertise that Gardasil is necessary since cervical cancer is the 2nd leading cause of deaths from cancer in women, world-wide. But it only ranks high when you include statistics from all the under-developed countries where women do not have access to regular PAP screening (so they are never detected or treated). In the US, the CDC only ranks cervical cancer as 13th in prevalence for all cancers, and 12th in terms of cancer mortalities (2002). In fact, cervical cancer is NOT an epidemic in our country. Largely because we have highly effective screening programs, see #4…
  4. Pap screening is highly effective in detecting cervical cancer. And this cancer tends to be slow to progress so detection is effective in allowing for it to be treated. The real numbers say that very few women will get an HPV infection that they cannot clear on their own - a small percentage of these will progress to pre-cancerous stages - the majority of these will be detected and treated by PAP screening and subsequent treatment. So the idea that women in developed countries are at great risk of developing cervical cancer is highly inflated. I am not saying that some will not fall through the cracks – but this is not an epidemic that needs to see all of our young girls immunized…
  5. Adverse side effects from this vaccination are real. They number more than 9000 reports to date, and include pain, fever, nausea, dizziness, itching, and even paralysis, Bell’s Palsy, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, seizures, miscarriages and DEATH. In fact, ONE DEATH PER MONTH is being attributed to the Gardasil vaccine.
  6. The FDA has published evidence that suggests that getting vaccinated with Gardasil, if you already have the HPV infection, may INCREASE your chances of developing high-grade precancerous lesions by almost 45% !!! This fact is not well-advertised.
  7. There is limited data to suggest how long the vaccine is effective, but predictions now suggest boosters every 5 years. See the $$ signs floating in the eyes of Merck shareholders, Planned Parenthood, etc? Especially if they can convince us to start the vaccination program on girls as early/young as possible.
  8. In Canada, the push is to vaccinate girls at 9 years old. But the majority of the clinical trial data collected to assess the safety of the vaccine was done on young women, not children. (In at least 2 trials, the median age of the girls was 20, with NO girls under the age of 15 being assessed!!). But the vaccine is pushed on prepubescent girls. Our daughters are the lab rats Merck will use to collect actual data
 
To continue…

Besides all of the cold, hard facts, there is something decidedly fishy/underhanded about the way Gardasil has been fast-tracked and bulldozered into society. It has been presented as a panacea. But since it only protects against 4 of the HPV strains, it is only expected to prevent up to 70% of relevant HPV viruses…so you STILL must have routine Pap tests. And some women are still going to get cervical cancer from the other, non-prevented HPV strains. It may even be that since the “big-4” strains are vaccinated against, that the remaining strains of HPV (of which there are many) will be able to compete better and will start accounting for more infections, leading to more non-vaccine-preventable cancers.

Nope – the primary reason for the marketing of Gardasil is so that society does not have to change its present sexual behavior patterns.

My DH and I are in full agreement - our daughters will NOT be getting vaccinated.

Having said all this…a PhD in Microbiology also posted on that particular thread back in the Fall and he was in full favour of having his daughters vaccinated.

The bottom line - getting this vaccine is a personal choice - there are reasons to not get it. There are reasons to get it. Educated people are on both sides of this debate. Devout Catholics are on both sides of this debate. There is no right or wrong answer.

Peace to all
CLM
<><
 
Having a vaccine may be useful if it means you do not need to have cervical smear tests in future which are a greater invasion of privacy, but again there may be a certain risk you could catch HPV. Ask your doctor if the vaccine means you won’t have smear tests in future although some women refuse them anyway.
 
It seems that this post has degraded into an ‘I’m smarter than you, look at my degrees’ posting.

Remember that the OP is 17 years old and is looking for help. My recommendation is that she speak with her doctor about her concerns. Together they can decide what is the right thing to do. I don’t know that we have helped her at all.
 
This is a conspiracy theory, and a DANGEROUS one at that. And you can’t just develop autism when you are 17. Maybe you should get your facts straight and actually look at studies and look at the facts. 99.9% of the medical community know that vaccines are extremely important. Actually, in California there is a rise of diseases like whooping cough and polio because stupid parents buy into the bs you are spouting without realizing “hey, these things my child is getting a vaccine for are pretty dangerous.” Children are DYING because of this misinformation you are spreading. Please stop!

EDIT: apparently 29 people have died from receiving gardisil. I would be interested to see how many thousands of lives that the vaccine has saved.
Since they are giving it to nine year olds, we won’t know until they get old enough to have sex outside of marriage, and catch that particular STD, probably in 10 to 14 years.
 
To continue…

Educated people are on both sides of this debate. <><
Educated does not mean informed about this issue. Recently there was an interesting discussion on Relevant Radio (Drew Mariani show) about what is in vaccines … and where does the “material” come from … scary.

Follow the money … don’t be afraid to discover a “conspiracy” … there is one … to kill us all from the beginning of this world … have you read this yet? For us to believe it we have to be ignorant or it has to look good, believable … but vaccines? They supposed to help us as advertisement promises … follow the money … from insurance companies, producers to the distributors, to the doctors … nurses … everyone **receives money **for each person “convinced” to receive ANY medication or undergo ANY procedures … I’m wondering, why do a lot of them fight so hard against certain chiropractors (seriously following Gonstead method) who suggest much less expensive permanent cures of sources not symptoms only. How about natural diet - the one from the Bible as prescribed by God for us ALL? There is a conspiracy to undermine this BOOK in our minds, so we can be easily convinced. And then there are those “willingly ignorant” as the Bible suggests. Don’t get me wrong, with a broken leg you go to the hospital - be reasonable. But think before you make decisions, get fully informed - get ALL possible sides (there are always more than two sides). Follow the money … and then peacefully ask God in prayer to reasonably present all sides, all pros, cons, consequences of either action or no action… Christians should not be scared, just well informed. 👍 Peace.🙂
 
It seems that this post has degraded into an ‘I’m smarter than you, look at my degrees’ posting.

Remember that the OP is 17 years old and is looking for help. My recommendation is that she speak with her doctor about her concerns. Together they can decide what is the right thing to do. I don’t know that we have helped her at all.
I am sorry if you felt there was any arrogance in my post. I thought if I was going to weigh in with my opinion (don’t get the vaccine), I should also answer the next obvious question (why not?). My background goes hand in hand with why I feel that way.

I find 17 year olds to be quite intelligent and able to handle information so I tried to give some. Let’s be honest, you must think the other readers (and the 17 yr old OP) are intelligent too since your post #24 of this thread included scientific information. I merely expanded the information you gave, but from the opposite side of the argument.

Did you miss the part in my second post when I mentioned that another poster from last Fall, like you,** is in full support of the vaccine**? Like myself he has a PhD. His posts on CAF indicate that he is a very intelligent man. Admirable, and very godly as well. I may disagree with him on the issue of this vaccine, but I can appreciate his position and greatly admire his theology. So I had no intention of implying that you had to listen to my advice just because I have some background in this subject matter. Others with just as much background as myself feel the opposite of how I do.

My post was never meant to put you on the defensive and I am sorry if that is the effect it had on you. And I stick by my last statement - which, btw, I feel is quite similar to your own sentiment:
The bottom line - getting this vaccine is a personal choice - there are reasons to not get it. There are reasons to get it. Educated people are on both sides of this debate. Devout Catholics are on both sides of this debate. There is no right or wrong answer.
Peace to you. And to all,
CLM
<><
 
CLM Catholic

No, I didn’t think it was arrogant on your part. But I think that your and my posts in particular, and this post in general has so much information that it will be confusing for the OP. You are a PhD and I am a Gyn physician that deals with women that have gynecologic cancers. So, yes, I am biased to the fact that if there is something available that will decrease the incidence of cancerous and precancerous lesions of the cervix (and a few other sites), and potentially prevent fertility issues, I will be for it. With Gardasil, there are obvious risks and benefits of this med. For me, the benefits far outweigh the potential/theoretical risks. No doubt, though, I am biased because of what I do for a living.

It seems that you and I disagree-- no big deal. My problem with what this thread has turned into, is that we have given her so much conflicting information, I don’t know that we have helped her make a decision. This is why I think that she should talk this over with some people that she trusts- family/docs/etc. We are just random names on the internet.

I, too, know that every opinion on this thread is with the intent to help the OP with her decision.

In retrospect, I should have worded things differently, and I apologize. I had just seen a lady that is dying from a cancer that should have been caught much earlier by her family doc. (it had nothing to do with cervical cancer or Gardasil, though) I was in a bad mood.
 
Virtually all medications have some risk factors associated to them, usually fairly low. Some have very high risk factors like chemotherapy drugs.

But you have to balance the risk against the value: a swine flu pandemic killing thousands, or an infinitesimal risk of developing Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Without vaccines deaths from common diseases like mumps, rubella, etc, would be in the thousands per year.
Whatever about HPV vaccine–I would recommend that you should approach it with great care.As the poster above says–“balance the risk against the value.”

I say this as my chiropractitioner gave a talk about the ''swine flue" vac.She gave out all the negative information about it,she just wanted her clients to be informed.She is also a highly skilled specialist nursing sister.So I went on the internet to research more about it,as I liked to find out if there was a basis for what she said—and yes my research did scare me!!
For instance Oralabora mentions rubella–did you know that this vaccine used the cells of a fetus(an aborted baby)–did you know that the HepititusA & B vac. also used the cells of a fetus? True!!

In fact you will see that in 2005 the Roman authorities made a statement about the ethics of this,as some concerned Catholics refused to vaccinate their children because of the above facts.It basically said that the manufacturing process occured years back and that the cells were regrown over the years from the original aborted baby.They concluded that at least something good can be found from such a horrible evil: but THAT PRESSURE should be put on the Companies who produce them to use an ethical means.They went on to say ,as you said ,that the good of the vaccination weighs out the health risks in not having one.

I read how they produced these,they filter out all the human cells and other "bad"things before they sell the end product.Having said this,did you know that a bach of 1200000 swine flue doses were withdrawn in an eastern euopean country (The Czeck) as the authorities just stumbled upon it in routine testing—had they not found out this “safe” imported vac–thousands would have died ,as it contained the “Bird Flue virus”! I wonder if over the years ,if some embryonic cells passed through the filters and gave people horrible cancers,just a thought.

Here is another thing you should consider,there is an embryonic cell bank register,there are twenty groups or companies who hold sole rights over them.They are some of the same companies who produced the swine flue,rubella &H ! ,H2–they deny that they will use them.I do not believe them,do you? Why register them then I ask you?One company has invested millions ,in setting up a plant cabable of producing millions of vaccines using human cells,it will be ready this year.Why did they not use eggs you may ask? Well it is cheaper and quicker,that is why we got vaccines made from humans!( as far as I am aware, the swine flue did not use no human cells)

I am sorry if this makes for not so nice reading but information is power! What pressure has been put on the producers of the rubella & H1,H2 to scrap them and to use ethical means–none that I know of–we just "trust"that doctors & researchers know best—( perhaps we have unwittingly donated money to them even),it might have been once! This is not meant to be a slurr on the wonderful ethical medical profession (the majority)–but hey,heaps kill babies also!
 
As a college Biology professor I regularly address this with my students. The HPV vaccine has NOT completed testing with the FDA and there HAVE been confirmed deaths as a result of young girls getting the vaccine. In addition many young woman have experienced incidence of genital warts and other negative side effects. HPV is an STD and so abstinence is your best bet. However, as other’s have already mentioned - if in the future you find out that your husband was not a virgin, than it may be worth while. However you should also know that the vaccine works against 4 types of the virus, there are over 100. The 4 are the one’s that most commonly lead to cervical cancer, however getting the virus does NOT automatically mean you will develop cervical cancer, it just increases your risk. Two, most of the time, a single exposure to HPV is usually dealt with pretty well with one’s immune system. If you want some more information I suggest checking out some of the documents at Jason Everett’s website: chastity.com/research/document-library

In the end, I recommend doing your OWN research, talk with your parents before making a decision. Sadly, doctors are not your best bet as many of them are pushing this vaccine because they do not think young people are capable of abstaining from sex.
 
So why aren’t boy’s encouraged to get the vaccine, too. That just seems wrong to me.
I believe initially because they were targeting this vaccine as a cervical cancer vaccine (false advertising) and men do not have cervix s. Now they have been a little better about what the vaccine does and they are talking about getting it “approved” for boys. I say “approved” in quotes because the one currently on the market still has not gone through all of the FDA testing. They got it out through a loop hole.
 
In light of the very small value of the vaccine, the higher risks, the deaths and bad reactions to the drug as well as what seems like the suppression of such information , the newness and incomplete period of testing of it I will not be allowing my 17 year old daughter to get it.
 
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