Would you give your adolescent girls an STD vaccine?

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ElizabethAnne:
I was assuming that a woman who has not had sex outside of marriage could ask her fiance to get himself tested for HPV. If I remember correctly, HPV is bacterial, not viral, disease and is not permanent. One would think the fiance would no longer have it even if he had previously contracted the disease.

I was not trying to provide “hindsight about my pre-marriage life” and don’t understand why you took my post as a personal affront to you.

God bless.
HPV is viral and can be a lifetime infection.
cdc.gov/std/hpv/default.htm
 
astegallrnc said:
:rotfl: Yep, that is how I read it too.

I think if the vaccine is safe I would vaccinate my DD (I’d want my DS vaccinated too). Princess Abby is right about the staggering statistics. Here is a link to information from the CDC on genital HPV
cdc.gov/std/hpv/default.htm

Aaaaaaaahhhh, please astegallrnc! Haven’t we suffered enough?! :yawn: Hmmm… what’s this? :coffee: Ok, I’m ready to dive into it!

Hey, that wasn’t too bad! Here’s a statistic for you though: “Among those ages 15-49, only one in four Americans has not had a genital HPV infection.”

As for the original question, I’m going to wait and see. I don’t have a daughter yet, so I have this time to see what comes of this vaccine.
 
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ElizabethAnne:
I was assuming that a woman who has not had sex outside of marriage could ask her fiance to get himself tested for HPV. If I remember correctly, HPV is bacterial, not viral, disease and is not permanent. One would think the fiance would no longer have it even if he had previously contracted the disease.

God bless.
No. HPV is a virus. It is NOT bacterial. There are treatments but no cure. It is thought that some people who are infected clear their own body of it within two years of infection, but this is not true for everybody and they pass it along to their partners while maintaining the infection for their entire lifetime. Plus re-infection is always possible, so in a marital relationship–meaning ongoing sexual activity–constant infection can conceivably take place.
 
Abby, you make a very compelling argument. 😛 It still makes me uneasy to wonder if this isn’t still a little bit of a cop-out though.
 
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CatholicSam:
Aaaaaaaahhhh, please astegallrnc! Haven’t we suffered enough?!

Hey, that wasn’t too bad! Here’s a statistic for you though: “Among those ages 15-49, only one in four Americans has not had a genital HPV infection.”
LOL!! CatholicSam the CDC links are just for you. :DI

My former OB/Gyn stated the statistics for our part of the US was closer to 90% or more infected. :bigyikes: I have never read anything to support his statement but assume it is based on the abnormal paps and cervical cancers he sees.

I am off to find more CDC stuff for CatholicSam! :yup:
Plus re-infection is always possible, so in a marital relationship–meaning ongoing sexual activity–constant infection can conceivably take place.
I have read conflicting opinions on this. From the American Social Health Association:
What does my positive HPV test mean for my partner?
Most sexually active couples share HPV until the immune response eliminates the infection. Partners who are sexually intimate only with each other are not likely to pass the same virus back and forth. When HPV infection goes away the immune system will remember that HPV type and keep a new infection of the same HPV type from occurring again. However, because there are many different types of HPV, becoming immune to one HPV type may not protect you from getting HPV again if exposed to another HPV type.
 
So I have only had genital contact with my husband and he has only had genital contact with me. However, my understanding is that this does not mean I have never been exposed to HPV. No guarantees.
 
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astegallrnc:
HPV is not detectable via blood testing.
hmm, I’m guessing only via swab testing as in pelvic exams would be the diagnosing factor then.

I don’t think getting any vaccine is going to make kids more or less likely to have sex. (Although it wouldn’t surprise me to learn they are working on just such a vaccine!) Kids are not scared of getting std’s or of getting pregnant - it’s the age old “it won’t happen to ME” inviciblity issue the young are born impaired with to worry their parents into an early grave.🙂 :whacky: The only real defence these kids have is their parents watchfull eyes and a solid grounding in their faith and in respecting their bodies.

My concerns are 90% medical based. Is it effective? Is it safe now and in the future? (We certainly don’t need a mutant strain of these things that will kill us faster or better!)

**I don’t believe in ANY blanket rulings - for reasons previously stated. I could see where in some situations it may be effective. **

**I really don’t like the pre-puberty use. I think it would be better to have a vaccine that an adult or at least a sexually active person can make a choice about. **

**For example, if a girl knows she is going to be active or already is active - she may feel inclined to get the vaccine. **

Or lets say a man and woman want to get married, but one or the other has hpv - the other could get the vaccine and still feel safe to enter into marriage.

Or a virgin person desides to go into the medical fields - they want the vaccine for preventive reason as their work is a high-risk situation.

I must say the key appears to be 3-fold: healhy living and health check ups and honesty. Live a healthy life and you lower the risks. Get check ups. (It should be noted that cervical cancer is 100% curable if detected early!) Be honest with loved ones. People who know they have these health issues should be clear about preventing spreading it to others - it should be a criminal offense to not tell a potential sexual partner.

The other 10% of my worries are good, old fashioned suspecion. As a previous poster noted, history has told us that the medical world is not always as ethical in their research and development studies as one would like to hope. The birth control pill is was a perfect example. A famous syphilis (sp) study on a black community would certainly be another that might be more in tune with the topic at hand.
 
From what I’ve read, it’s not absolutley necessary that the vaccine be administered so young. That just want to make sure that people get it before they start having sex, so 10 is the number they pulled out of the hat.

I do think it would be wrong to make it madatory, as some people wish, as in you can’t go to high school without it. I also disagree with HBV to go to Kindergarten. but that’s another thread.
 
Rob’s Wife said:
hmm, I’m guessing only via swab testing as in pelvic exams would be the diagnosing factor then.

.

The only laboratory test is the HPV DNA test, which may be done in combination with a pap. I used the liquid based paps at the clinic and the HPV DNA testing was done from the one sample. There are criteria for HPV DNA testing, so not all woman are tested.
 
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SemperJase:
And no man has ever been diagnosed with cervical cancer.
🙂 True. Gential HPV can cause penile cancer in uncircumcised men, but it is not a prevalent disease.
 
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ElizabethAnne:
I was assuming that a woman who has not had sex outside of marriage could ask her fiance to get himself tested for HPV. If I remember correctly, HPV is bacterial, not viral, disease and is not permanent. One would think the fiance would no longer have it even if he had previously contracted the disease.

I was not trying to provide “hindsight about my pre-marriage life” and don’t understand why you took my post as a personal affront to you.

God bless.
just came across as “well, if you’re not sleeping around before marriage, you shouldn’t get cervical cancer b/c 90% of it comes from HPV, " – the follow-up to that logic is…so if you get it, it’s because you slept around before you were married” – no, that’s not it, but I think that’s all been cleared up since it’s the HPVirus, not the HPBacteria
 
I have known a few women with this condition. One did nothing to treat the HPV. Later she got breast cancer, so I assumed they took care of everything. Another had a hysterectomy. A third turned out to be OK.

When I was 20, I got the Hepatitic C vaccine. The doctor did not explain much nor give me a choice. Is that the STD kind?

Why do you need to tell the young girls what the vaccine is for? So they get the booster in one arm, and a new cancer vaccine in the other arm.

What if a woman wants to remain chaste but she just slips once or twice? Does she not deserve the vaccine. :confused:
 
I have known a few women with this condition. One did nothing to treat the HPV. Later she got breast cancer, so I assumed they took care of everything. Another had a hysterectomy. A third turned out to be OK.

When I was 20, I got the Hepatitic C vaccine. The doctor did not explain much nor give me a choice. Is that the STD kind?

Why do you need to tell the young girls what the vaccine is for? So they get the booster in one arm, and a new cancer vaccine in the other arm.

What if a woman wants to remain chaste but she just slips once or twice? Does she not deserve the vaccine.
Genital HPV infection causes cervical cancer. Did the one woman you know have cervical cancer or breast cancer? There is research on HPV and breast cancer, but there are no conclusive studies.

HCV (Hepatitis C Virus) can be spread by sexual contact, but this does not occur very often. There is not a vaccine for Hep C, so I am guessing you had a HBV (Hepatitis B) Vaccine. HBV can be spread sexually. Your doctor should have explained it so you could give informed consent. And you should have been given an option.

Here is a link about Hepatitis:
cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hepatitis/

CatholicSam if you read this, I am sure you are eagerly headed to the CDC site now to read more “beautifully poetically written” reasearch. 😛
 
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Lillith:
HIV is found in every human fluid…including spit and tears…
Just to keep facts straight, it would require a person drinking about 1 litre of saliva infected with HIV for them to contract it.

I don’t know a whole ton about this vaccine, but I figure if it was found to be safe, I don’t see the problem. Though I am lucky to have a gf who I know to be chaste (and who will remain so as I will until marriage) many people do not. The issue of teenage sex is one that needs to be attacked on all fronts. If we have a safe vaccine that will stop kids from contracting the disease, well, give it to them. At the same time, teach them that sex before marriage is wrong. We can have it both ways. I look at the vaccine as a preventative measure to be taken along with other methods of educating people about the harms of pre-marital sex and having multiple partners.

Eamon
 
The one woman I knew had a “bad pap smear.” She had been promiscuous at one time in her life. She did nothing, got preganant, and then got breast cancer. So I assume with the radiation and chemotherapy, the docs took care of it all.

No one asked me about the Hepatitis. But then again at 20, I was seeing a pediatrician. They might have assumed I knew about those things!

I did get a Hep B recently, because I do travel to Europe, etc.

I still say though, for a child, one need not give all the information about the vaccine. Let the parents decide what to say.

Now, if someone wants to start a flu vaccination thread, I have a lot to say about that too!
 
The one woman I knew had a “bad pap smear.” She had been promiscuous at one time in her life. She did nothing, got preganant, and then got breast cancer.
Is she ok? I don’ t know the specifics of her pap smear to comment about the appropriate treatment.
I still say though, for a child, one need not give all the information about the vaccine. Let the parents decide what to say.
That is true. I have cared for a number of teens over the years, and STDs don’t discourage sexual activity. I doubt this vaccine would encourage it.

Random thought here, you may have received the HAV when you were 20.
I look at the vaccine as a preventative measure to be taken along with other methods of educating people about the harms of pre-marital sex and having multiple partners.
Eamon, very good points!
 
She had stage IIB breast cancer. But in general her life choices have not always been healthy. She is OK, for now. Overall, I would have to say she is not, but maybe a bit better than before.

I am not sure which vaccine I had when I was 20.

I just got HepA/B because I do travel. It had nothing to do with STD’s since I didn’t even know which one did what at the time.Just saw it as a necessity.

Since there are always a few who get the STD not through sex, those types of vaccines are worth it.

That is why I always get a PAP smear, despite my really low risk.
 
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