Vaccination against cervical cancer/HPV

Its usually done at school at age 12/13. Where'd you get 11 from?

It's given in S1 in Scotland (well all the schools I am aware of anyway) so depending on what time of year children will be 11/12/13 - my daughter has hers coming up and will be 12 but was 11 at the start of the year. Think there's a booster in a couple of year (for her, she has a lot of meds for asthma and eczema that put her on the 'extra' list)

The implication from OP is that giving the vaccine at age 11 somehow means that that’s widely seen as the age kids can potentially have sex. Completely overlooking that anyone under the age of 13 is considered incapable of consenting to sex.

The language police are at it again. The poster works with these children, I think she knows what she means - and of course it’s a given that children of this age are not capable of consenting. There are those whose religion does not prohibit taking a bride at the age of 8 or 9, so the poster may be working in very difficult circumstances if she’s close to that kind of situation.

You bring up HSV (Herpes - yay cold sores!!!): the inconvenient truth is that the vast majority of people have that infection - same as most adults have the Epstein Barr virus (the one that causes glandular fever/mono). The fact that you don't have cold sore breakouts doesn't mean you aren't a carrier of the virus. And, as with HPV (the same type of virus family that can cause warts on your feet), HSV also has different strains (the one that causes cold sores on your mouth is somewhat different from the one that causes genital sores) - the point being that you cannot assume that people don't have it just because they don't have a breakout. Most of us do, in fact, have it - which is why it's a good idea to for example, not allow people of any age to kiss your baby when baby is newborn and their immune system isn't all that strong yet: dealing with an initial HSV infection when you are 2 days old because Grandma decided to kiss you by the mouth while having a "tingle" on her lip is pretty damn awful (babies can die from it) - so it's entirely appropriate for adults to take measures to prevent inadvertent transfer of these illnesses.

Bringing this back to the HPV vaccine: the OP clearly wants to allege that the NHS is encouraging sexual behaviour/contact between children. They have now been told that HPV can be transmitted through non-sexual contact, and they have also been told that the best place to find information on the NHS's reasoning for offering the jab starting at age 12 can be found on the NHS's own website. If they continue to try to claim that the NHS is offering it because of assumed sexual contact starting at age 12 they clearly have an agenda that contradicts objective evidence. Ah well. It's a good lesson in how not to behave.

I never even got it at school and wish I had! And I will have my child vaccinated for it (still a baby). I don’t even know if aged 11 is incorrect or correct from the OP to be fair but I think that’s the whole point. Seems to be just assumed this is an age picked due to sexual contact but you can pay private for it in the UK from aged 9. Think logistically the UK have picked year 8 to do this to blanket cover that age group, which is great and practical of the government I think 🤷🏼‍♀️ much more to it than just picking an age they’re assuming kids are sexually active though as the OP seems to think!

In Wales it’s given in year 8, so age 12/13.

At this age (unless immunocompromised) only one dose is needed.

It’s given then before the vast majority will be sexually active and before more doses are required.

it all seems very sensible and straightforward to me.

Bloody hell. 8/9 year olds are not “engaging” in sexual activity.
That’s CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE!!

And not all sex is consensual.

No, why are you being weird? There might be some that will start young or experience abuse. This is one protection we can put in place.

No. Literally no-one has said this. The vaccine works best by being given before they become sexually active and age 11 has been perceived to be the best age so that the immune system has time to do it’s thing and provide maximum protection. And it’s not just a single jab vaccine - there is a booster a couple of years later, so again, time needs to be allowed for immunity to build before sexual activity starts.

Green book says “from 11” so may vary across the country. And of course a lot of year 7s are 11 for much of the year.

Thread premise is batshit, though.

Remember one shot doesn't cover them and they will also need a booster to be covered which they get about 1-2 years later and then their immunity needs to build.

@rebmacesrevda has beaten me to posting the Green Book!

Rubella immunisation for 11 to 14 year olds was introduced in 1970! The JCVI minutes discussing its introduction are available on the National Archives website.

Wow you are being pretty agro about this - you clearly have already decided that this is the answer, so why are you asking? Furthermore the majority of answers you've received have stated that the reason is 1) Vaccine effectiveness based on studies; 2) Year 8 is the year they get the vaccine - which is 12 years old for the most part, not 11; 3) HPV can be transmitted through intimate - not necessarily sexual contact. Do kids start having boyfriends/girlfriends at that age? Of course! Do they try kissing each other? Yup! Are some of them more sexually advance? Of course. Does that mean they are all sexually active? Of course not.

There are no doubt plenty of peer reviewed scientific studies that back the Government/NHS's decision to offer the vaccination in Year 8 - all that information is available online - go read it.

And also yes it should be assumed that specifically to HPV, as it can be caught through kissing and close skin to skin contact, 11 and under is a good age to protect against this. I personally didn’t start my period until I was 15, so had zero interest in sexual activity before that. Once my periods started I certainly was interested! In the 1920s on average in the uk girls started their periods aged 14-15, compared to 2025 which is on average aged 12 but as young as 8!

My year 8 had it last week.

One dose now unless you're immunocompromised.

It's a one dose vaccine now.

Has the age been changed? It used to be year 8, so 12-13 year olds. Are they now giving it at 11 or is this entire thread predicated on an incorrect fact?

Either way, your kids should have it.

In my work I've seen 8/9 year olds who are engaging in sexual activity. Not right and they were being heavily supported but denying that it happens isn't helping anyone either. As pp have said age 12 is a good age as it will catch the vast majority before they become sexually active. You're giving them a quick injection to protect them against a virus that can cause a devastating type of cancer. You're hardly giving them a copy of the karma sutra or endorsing sexual activity in any way. I don't think we should overthink it. Just be happy that our girls can now be protected against this horrible disease.

This is the source that proves everyone (except OP) is correct. See Chapter 28 for Rubella. Plenty of evidence out there if OP had actually wanted to find it.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/649032b6b32b9e000ca969a7/HPV-green-book-chapter-18a-June-2023.pdf

I had to ask one of the family planning staff to move her car once and in the waiting area was kids in school uniforms not looking in any way old enough for sex but there for contraception.

It was an eye opener.

Looking back all the girls in my year at school having D&C didn’t have heavy periods they were having surgical abortions because the abortion tablet hadn’t been released yet.

The 20% research shows are sexually active at 14 deserve protection too, the age of consent was only bought in to put a stop to child prostitution not consensual relationships with peers. 16 is an arbitrary number it was lower at first.

It's meant to be around puberty so that sounds about right. Not so much now, but before the vaccine existed the virus was extremely common. So apparently most people who had sexual contact with more than one person would come into contact with it at some point in their life. It's great they are giving the vaccine to both sexes now as well.

That's another hell of an illogical leap! People pointing out your mistakes are not really concerned about public health? FFS!

No. It's perceived that most children 'won't' be sexually active by then so that's the best time to do it. As many people have said?