to not make DD have last HPV vaccine

[adultcat]

DD (14) had the first injection and promptly fainted. The second one was traumatic. She's just refused to have the third one. They were all done at school but last week she refused to have it and told them I'd take her to the doctor to get it done.
Can I do that? Should she have it?
Tried to research it but there's lots of opinions out there and I'm really confused!

Yes, taking the pressure off will hopefully be the best plan of action.
I must admit, reading someone writing:
You don’t have to force/scare/manipulate/coerce. You could just PARENT them made me think that perhaps they’re not yet parenting an older child? Or, more importantly, they’re not parenting my child.

Interesting article here. Doesn't help the OP much but good to see the program is starting to work.

publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2018/06/18/ten-years-on-since-the-start-of-the-hpv-vaccine-programme-what-impact-is-it-having/

Including the following quotes:

Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women under 35 in the UK and currently kills around 850 women a year who have not had the opportunity to benefit from the HPV vaccine programme.

Since the introduction of HPV vaccination, infections of HPV types 16/18 in 16-21 year old women have reduced by 86% in England. Considering around 80% of all cervical cancers are caused by these types, this means we expect to see big reductions in cervical cancer in years to come.

Cervical cancer most commonly affects women in their mid to late twenties, so once vaccinated girls reach these ages and beyond we can get an accurate picture of the impact this vaccine will have on this devastating cancer.

Although it will take us some years to see the full impact, a Scottish study recently showed that the vaccine has reduced pre-cancerous cervical disease in women by up to 71%. We also know that it is particularly benefitting women from the most deprived communities, which means that this is contributing to narrowing the health equality gap.

If you can come up with ways to make her feel in control as much as possible - both in the decision, and as it is happening - as well as helping her find the motivation to want to do it I suspect it will help enormously. Having something nice planned immediately afterwards can help as a motivator, if it's of her choosing (not imposed).

Or a strategy some people use in the moment when they're panicking about a procedure is to focus on how they will feel afterwards not how they feel right this second - eg how proud they'll feel of themselves for doing something scary, how they won't have to keep worrying anymore because that's it done for life, how relieved they'll be....

I don't know what happened the second time, but clearly it was distressing enough for you to use the word traumatic. Generally, trauma is about feeling totally out of control and unsafe, so the best response is to help that person find some control again over what is happening to them. And to help them find a sense of safety again.

Teenagers do tend to try to psych each other out when injections take place at school, so I doubt the environment helped.

Could you book an appointment at GP just to discuss it and how they could support her with it? So she'd be attending knowing she wouldn't be having the injection and the decision would still be hers, it would just be an information gathering exercise. Then put it back to her having been there to think about what would make it easier for her (eg taking something reassuring to hold, lying down, you there/not there...)

They're all strategies that will help in her wider life anyway.

Cancel the cheque! She's already seen the GP.

Just let it lie, OP, sometimes you have to with teens.

Mine doesn't want her ears pierced, either, but compared to my son who has PDA, she's a dream.

Do you have a community nursing team?
I had exactly the same situation with dd so when the letter for the final injection arrived I phoned the number on it. There were some community clinics being held during the school holidays to 'mop up' anybody missed so we went along to one of those. It was a very different experience for her, I was with her throughout, the staff were a lot more relaxed.
So the injection problem is a little more sorted.
But of course the prospects of blood tests at some point in her life doesn't bear thinking about. She says she will never have one.

Our GP can't give school based jabs as they are not commissioned to do so. The school nursing team in our area run catch up clinics for those who miss school based imms but they can also be used for other reasons. I spoke to the team after my dd refused the jab at school as she has a needle phobia after medical treatment when younger. We had it done at the hospital where they saw her first, talked with her and allowed her to go at her own pace. They have lots of experience which helped. The number for the school imms team should be on the letter you recieve. Give them a call and see what they say.

Thanks for all the replies everyone!
She's not refusing, she just refused to have it at school. She works her self up in to a state and I think was worried about it being done at school in front of people.
I've rang our GPs, the receptionist said she'll ask and get back to me.
I don't need to bribe / threaten / punish, she'll go to our doctor or nurse with me. She's just a over dramatic, sensitive, hormonal, pain in my ass! I'll put some Savlon on her arm and tell her it's numbing cream
I understand they have two injections in year 7 and 8 then it's one injection in both arms in year 9. Apparently it needs to be done by age 15 to be fully protected.
Thanks again for the replies x

My dd just had 2 in total

I’m pretty sure the 15 thing is just trying to vaccinate before they are sexually active and can have already caught it.

The two injections in year 7/8 are HPV. The injections in year 9 one in each are are DTP and men, that is the schedule my DD completed last summer.

The HPV vaccine is two doses in Y8. If you start them when 15 or over you need 3 doses.

In Y9 they get offered the DTP booster and MenACWY at school. These can be given at any time, but in many areas school health teams are commissioned to give them and not GP services.

I’m a practice nurse and in my county we can not give HPV, DTP or MenACWY to children who should have received it at school.

We have the same situation with nasal flu vaccine - we had children being booked in by their parents who were due it at school but parents didn’t want to wait until November or December and we’re trying to book in with us earlier. They were unimpressed to be told we couldn’t do it - we’re not commissioned to do it so won’t receive payment, and don’t receive enough vaccine to do it.

If children miss their imms at school (or refuse them) we cannot give them, and advise parents to phone the school health teams as they will often have catch up sessions during holidays and half terms, which may be better for the child.

That explains a lot, Sidge. A couple of years ago my son refused the nasal flu vaccine (he has ASD and truthfully, it caused a lot of problems) but there was nowhere for me to request the jab instead (which he wanted) for the reasons he needed so the child went without that year. Last year they'd changed things to allow for choice between the two (without the usual allergic to eggs/religion/immunocompromised reasons) although they did ring up to make sure.

DD doesn't want the HPV jabs so I guess if she cannot get them aside from these school teams she'll forgo them entirely.

Three injections and feeling a bit woozy is nothing compared to the number she'd need if she were to develop Cervical Cancer, even before thinking of whether, if she gets in such a tizz about a vaccination, she'd ever actually go ahead with a smear test until it was too late.

Matter of fact logic needs to be applied. She needs the full course, she needs to be protected. She's going to need to have it at the GP, whether she gets faint or not.

That’s interesting ASurfeit as this year we couldn’t offer the jab to those who didn’t want the nasal spray purely on preference. The injection wasn’t licensed for under 18s and we could only get VERY limited supplies of the injectable alternative for those that couldn’t have the nasal spray for clinical reasons.

It gets more complicated every year with flu vaccine!

And again, Mitzi, you cannot force a person to have 'the full course' at the GP or anywhere if she does not consent to the treatment. Nor will they do it on a 14-year-old who is refusing. That's coercive and unacceptable and thankfully, not allowed or you'd have young people being forced to have terminations they didn't want or contraception they don't want (OR be prevented from accessing treatments they do want) or any number of things. You cannot force someone to undergo medical treatment they don't want once they are past the age of competency.

A good tip from parenting teens, too, is that the 'my way or the highway because I know best' (even when you do) rarely works.

Make sure she lies down when having it then she won’t faint. Get her to suck a sweet whilst back it’s done.

That’s interesting ASurfeit as this year we couldn’t offer the jab to those who didn’t want the nasal spray purely on preference.

Yeah, he didn't get the jab that year although even the GP agreed it wasn't really much a preference due to his ASD. But there was ZERO way he was having that nasal vaccine and after the last year he had it (it ended up causing serious sleep disruption to him due to continually blocked nose which sent his anxiety into overdrive and then, whether coincidence or not, nosebleeds out of one nostril that finally needed cauterisation) I agree with him!

If that happens again this year he just won't have a vaccine. He took the jab just fine (he's a big lad for his age).

Some pharmacies offer the flu jab for children e.g. Superdrug, lloyds

@adultcat

Doesn't need to be done at age 15 at all - I'm a grown adult and had mine a few years ago. I believe it was the same one as used in schools, I simply had to have an extra injection because I was over 15 - so I had three injections overall.

It needs to be done before your daughter becomes sexually active (at all, not just PIV) to have its best effect, but there is still some benefit to having it done after then, as you may not have been exposed to all the variants it protects against.

Is she sexually active? If not then there isn’t actually a need to force her to have it now. You have to weigh the benefits of the vaccine (limited protection against just a few strains of HPV which only increase the chances of cervical cancer) against the potential fall out of forcing her to have it. It’s not the most beneficial vaccine out there. If you think she’ll get over it then get it done but if you are worried this is part of a larger mistrust of doctors/medicine/fears over her autonomy then o would wait until a more appropriate time. It’s not like you’re talking about small pox or polio. Not all vaccines are created equal.

YOU CANNOT FORCE A 14-YEAR-OLD TO HAVE A VACCINE!

You said that CAHMS didn't consider her issues severe enough for them to offer CBT - would you be in a position to pay privately?

Speaking as someone with acute dental phobia which was badly handled by both my parents and the dentist as a child and teenager, I agree that coercion and lecturing are not going to help when the fear is this deep-seated. While its important she be aware of the options of declining treatment, a phobia is generally way beyond a rational response and approaching it through rational discussion of consequences, in my experience, does not work.

I would really recommend that, if it is at all an option financially, you see if you can find a therapist experienced in tackling phobias - whether that be CBT, hypnotherapy or another approach. Obviously this might not be an option - but if it is, I'd encourage you to explore it.

I'm having the same problem with DS & the dentist, he had a check up last year & needed 2 fillings, had the first one done & flatly refused to go back for the last one, I've made the appointment 3 times & every time he has refused to get out the car. The dentist now refuses to make any more appointments for him, he's ASD & 6 foot tall, it's not like I can drag him there.

@asurfeitofduncans what on earth are you talking about?

Of course it's entirely their choice - but it has to be informed. Which is by making it a full choice - 3 jabs and feeling a bit wobbly - or hundreds of the fucking things, invasive surgery, chemotherapy and possibly death (if the same principle/aversion is used in later life in refusing to have smears).

@chouetted she can wait until she's at least 35 then before she's allowed to be sexually active!!