HPV Vaccine should i consent for my 12 year old be given this?

[Rewy]

A little concerned regarding the decision on this as there does seem to be some worrying side effects .

I had the Gardasil injections when it first came out seven years ago. I'll happily give permission for DD to have the shots when she's old enough.

It's an incredibly important vaccine, and very effective. The HPV strains in question cause 70% of cervical cancers, 90% of genital warts, as as anal, penile and vaginal cancers. Studies from Australia (the first country to introduce it) showed a 77% reduction in new HPV infections in the first four years, despite a relatively low immunisation rate (around 70%, I think), and increases in other STDs. Australia has now extended its schools program to vaccinate boys as well.

Having had to have an OP to remove pre cancerous cells and all the stress and indignity that it entailed I would move heaven and hell to lessen the risk of my daughters going through the same so yes they will be having it.
I didn't know about the protection it gives to males as well, has it only recently been discovered? Is that why it's not offered to boys?

Magpiegin, I totally agree. However, my (difficult) decision was based on the fact that there are many effective steps that can be taken to minimise the chance of my dd needing chemo or radiotherapy for cervical cancer, (including using condoms and having regular cervical screening) but nothing at all I can do to prevent the swollen joints, bleeding under the skin, exhaustion etc that she already suffers from and which would could be made dramatically worse by having this vaccination.

I entirely agree that, generally speaking, the vaccine is a Very Good Thing, but these things should always be weighed up on an individual basis.

Getting it 'later' may not be that straightforward.

It's currently funded and delivered through a vaccination programme via school health. GPs aren't funded to deliver it to over 18 year olds and due to tight protocols can't offer it to women not eligible through the current criteria.

You can of course obtain it privately but it's not cheap (I believe you're looking at around £400 for all 3 vaccines).

Of course girls can choose to receive the vaccine later than Y8 which is when it's currently offered, but if they become sexually active before having the vaccine (including non penetrative sex) then they can become exposed to HPV and the vaccine may be less effective.

Abs- my response wasn't directed at you- I should have been clearer (I get carried away when it comes to defending vaccines). I think all children should have the vaccine if able. You've clearly done your research and are not responding to scare stories in the Daily Mail.

Thanks for that Magpie.

It's so difficult - we all just want to keep our kids safe and protected. I'm still not sure I've made the right choice for mine - especially as I'm not at all scientific and making sense of the research available is a nightmare!

I just find the idea of Y8 girls being sexually active very demoralising. I'm glad mine aren't. Once they are, they can choose whether or not to have the vaccine (if they are adult enough at that point to decide to have sex - or non-penetrative sex - then they would have to be adult enough to decide to have a vaccine or not). I know this is not a popular view on MN, though!

that's the point though - they're mostly not sexually active in Y8, so thats' the best time for a national vaccination programme, where that vaccine is most effective if given before becoming sexually active. You don't wait till they start having sex, then say "oh, you can decide now"

MillwolldGold the thing is, is that the vaccine ideally needs to be given BEFORE girls become sexually active.

Once you have potentially been exposed to HPV then the vaccine is less effective. Hence the programme being offered to Y8 girls as very few will be sexually active at that age.

Millwold-as the others said, that's the whole point!! To do the vaccine before they're sexually active, not when they become active.

"I just find the idea of Y8 girls being sexually active very demoralising. I'm glad mine aren't. Once they are, they can choose whether or not to have the vaccine (if they are adult enough at that point to decide to have sex - or non-penetrative sex - then they would have to be adult enough to decide to have a vaccine or not). I know this is not a popular view on MN, though!'
It's not that it's an unpopular view-it's just that it's not a sensible view. Nobody wants their daughters to be sexually active young- but many are. And this vaccine needs to be given before they have sex for the first time. It's no use hoping they will stop and think- oh no- I can't have sex, I haven't had my HPV vaccination!

Yes, I realise that (sorry - I can see why you thought I didn't). It's just that I would hope my daughters think before they actually have sex, and make sure that they have thought about everything that it entails (including contraception and HPV vaccines). I checked my rubella status before ttc; isn't this similar?

"It's just that I would hope my daughters think before they actually have sex,"

You can buy contraceptives practically everywhere- organising two injections a month apart seems a tad unlikely!

What was your reason for refusing consent?

And why risk it just because you hope they will be sensible?

I'm sure I read somewhere recently that they wI'll be extending the programme to boys (or did I just imagine that?)

If so, what age groups will it be offered to?

Okay ... I'll rephrase it to 'trust' rather than 'hope'. Not all teenage girls are having sex!

My reason was that I trust that they will not be contemplating having sex until they are considerably older than Y8. My trust has thus far not been misplaced.

But I shall bow out at this point, as I have said my bit and there's nothing more I can usefully add...

Dd didn't have it in yr 8 -I consented but she refused to have it done at school (massive needle phobe)

She wasn't allowed to have it at the GPs during yr 8 so will be having it around Christmas time now she's yr 9

"Okay ... I'll rephrase it to 'trust' rather than 'hope'. Not all teenage girls are having sex!"

Of course they aren't. Mine's 18 and hasn't yet. But it is sooo dangerous to assume that they won't, and hold off this vaccine that might save their lives if they do get carried away............

Doesn't it cover some oral cancers too? I will certainly be looking at it (private if necessary) for my ds when he's older.

Yes.

There are moves afoot to offer it to boys too (which makes perfect sense to me) and then my boys will be getting it.

My dd had it last week (year 8) as well as a talk on the importance of safe sex...

They can choose to have it later ? What after they've aquired hpv?

Another who wants it for her DS here as well.

I wish we gave it earlier the problem often with parental acceptance seems to be almost " my child will never have sex and certainly not unprotected sex so they'll never catch it " .... If it's not said, that's what parents think / hope.

A teenager in the grip of first love is not going to say "oh, hang on, I can't have sex, I haven't had my HPV vaccine. I'll just organise my appointments to have two injections a month apart, then carry on."

Any more than, as some people seem to think , they will say "I wasn't going to have sex until I was older, but now I'm protected against HPV I've changed my mind"

People can be so stupid

If you are concerned about it then don't give your consent. Yes, it can protect against certain strains which may cause cervical cancer but not having it is certainly not going to mean that they will definitely get cancer. The majority of HPV cases will resolve themselves without causing any problems.

Only you can decide, different risks will be acceptable to different people. For me, the risk of the vaccine outweighs the risk of the disease.

As for boys, well maybe it does protect against anal, oral, penile cancers but how common are any of these? I've never known anyone suffer from any of these conditions. As for genital warts, it might be a distressing condition, but hardly life threatening.

Surely the idea to vaccinate boys is mainly to stop boys passing the disease on to girls, and that raises a big moral dilemma.