I have declined the HPV vaccine for my daughter - school nurse demands I give reasons why - is this legal?

[TimeIsAnIllusion]

I have declined the HPV vaccine for my daughter. Do I have to explain the reasons why on the form? I received a telephone call from the school nurse saying I must but I don't wish to explain myself. If the vaccine is offered I have a right to decline surely - so must I give a good enough reason to decline?

I don't know who the information will be passed on to and how my reasoning will be judged or considered. I just want to politely and quietly take the "no thanks" option without being pressed as to why.
By the way I my dd has had all other childhood vaccines but it's this particular one I'm not happy for her to have.

TalkToFrank I was commenting on the implications of what Princessdebs said, back on page 2 of the thread.

Sidge - bugger, you're right about the TB booster not existing! Can't remember which it is they get boosted, but I'm sure my year 9 tutor group had something or other last year. Definitely not HPV - it was both boys & girls.

we're in a pilot area for offering flu vaccine (via nasal spray) to all year 7 & 8, not just kids in high risk groups.

I'm all for vaccines & all my dc have had/will certainly be having everything going, but the OP does have the right to decline.

Nasal flu vaccine is offered to all children in primary school in Scotland.

herd immunity exists www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24150529

I completely agree with anotherday's post!

justTheRightBullets clearly does not understand that only vaccinating females will not lead to herd immunity. HPV is not only contracted through heterosexual penetrative sex...please JustTheRightBullets make yourself informed about how HPV is spread.

In 2012 527,000 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer and 265,000 women died of cervical cancer. Globally. Out of 3.5 billion women.
That's a very approximate 1 in 10,000 chance of dying of cervical cancer. Or 0.01 % if you prefer. Makes you think when weighing up the risks vs benefits.

That's very skewed logic.

So if a woman only has a 1 in 10,000 chance of dying of cervical cancer, shall we do away with cervical smears as well?

divingoffthebalcony your idea would be skewed logic indeed!

(Cervical smears being more effective than the hpv vaccine)

Can the form of albumen used in vaccines actually cause allergic reactions then?

I was facing this dilemma a year ago and chose to delay my dd having the vaccine. My reasons were

• japan had just withdrawn their recommendation for the vaccine following side effects reported
• dd has eczema and other allergies and having just gone into puberty I was concerned of possible affects on her eczema of adding the vaccination to her system.

Like the Op's dd, my dd has had all other vaccinations. And I am not saying never to this one, but rather not yet. At the moment I am thinking we will re-visit this next summer when DD is 14.
Also at that stage, DD can be involved in the decision.

It doesn't really matter what the ops reasons are. We are each responsible for our own decisions and decision making process. To demand she tell or be considered unreasonable and face the wrath of Mumsnet is pretty infantile tbh.

If you deny consent op the only real way you are going to stop dd getting the vaccine is by putting that it's for reasons of family medical history or something. This will give them pause as they would be culpable if they went ahead and something went wrong. Anything else would just be read as "try to persuade the child to consent" imo. Obviously you don't have to put anything but in this case you want a particular outcome.

Having said that, please please be very sure your dd doesn't want this before you do something that stops here making the decision herself - because it's her right to make that decision even if you disagree. Be certain that she's not harbouring hopes that she feels she can't share because she knows your feelings already. I only say this because, if she wants it but can't tell you now there's a good chance she won't tell you in the next few years - by which time it may well be too late for her. I'm not saying she does, just asking that you check

I just don't understand how a parent can say no but someone will vaccinate a child anyway if the child says yes. 12 really isn't that old. My dd is 11 and I am worried now.

todayisnottheday thank you for your kind concern. We have looked at the pros and cons at length with our 12y old and at present she doesn't "really really want it". She is a "young" 12y old and we don't perceive her as old enough to decide alone even though she has opted no herself in any case -mostly as she dislikes the thought of a needle.

She could make the decision for herself at an older age when she is more mentally capable of this.
Her older sister eg was offered the vaccine at 18y (it was not around when she was 12).

I withdrew dd from the school health programme precisely because the school nurse had ideas above her station and informed me that if I wasn't able to attend the school health check (I was going to be at a funeral) then she would see my daughter without me being present without my consent. Seeing as dd has a paediatrician and so we have no need for school health nurses anyway I wrote to her and copied it all the way up the chain withdrawing dd and threatening legal action if they attempted to see her. I informed her school that I had withdrawn consent and dd has never been seen in school since. When she moved to secondary her classmates were given school health questionnaires but dd wasn't so I assume that she is still off the books. I would prefer her to be immunised at the GP anyway as she has had anaphylaxis (not to immunisation) and GP always has adrenalin and hydrocortisone to hand when she has been immunised previously.

Good. Sorry if that sounded patronising, it wasn't intended to be. I've just had experience of a child who did want the vaccine but felt she couldn't tell mum as mum had made her feelings clear. It was very stressful for her. I'm sure that's a pretty isolated incident but it's left me a bit wary

I have HPV, I'm likely to be checked and need treatment regularly, quite the worry at 4m pregnant with two small boys. The treatment is frankly horrible, the checks stressfull and this will continue for years. I really would think about vaccinating even if not through the school programme.

wheredidiparkmybroom I am sorry to hear that, it must be quite a worry for you. The HPV vaccine protects against two strains of HPV not all HPV just so you know - you may have had HPV even if vaccinated depending on which strain of HPV you have, it's possible though not certain you would have been protected from HPV.

The vaccine is intended to protect from the two strains known to precede cervical cancer in a minority of carriers. You would have to have one of these two strains and then for your immune system to interact with them in a particular manner in order to go on and develop cervical cancer.

Currently an estimated 50% of the population carries HPV with no adverse effects or symptoms. Up to 8 out of 10 people get the virus most of them not having symptoms and never knowing they've had it.

charleybarley yes it is our daughters body. At the moment amongst other things we see her risk of taking the vaccine vs the benefits as weighted towards us not wishing to impose the vaccine on her against her will currently. If she changes her mind and wishes to procede when older and more capable of understanding all the issues surrounding the vaccine she will of course be free to do so.

(And this would likely take place in a hospital environment with adrenaline to hand if she did wish to go ahead due to familial allergy history, her own allergies and increased risk of anaphylaxis).

I don't understand why people reject vaccines.

It's a luxury of the modern age. I'm sure 150 years ago people would have fought for protection against a raft of life threatening diseases. But now people turn them down. Isn't it a public health issue if people reject them?