HPV Vaccination - Year 8

[Heynonymouse]

DD (12) has just brought home a consent form for the HPV vaccinations. Looking back through the Mumsnet archives the response to these injections seems mixed to say the least! Has anyone's daughter had the jabs recently and did they have any adverse reactions?

I'm totally uncertain about whether to say yes or not, so any input would be much appreciated . . .

as a teacher and fellow mum, I would totally recommend them. Cervical cancer is a sexually transmitted disease and deeply unpleasant.

dd had it last year and was totally fine as were all her friends although one or two did faint beforehand at the thought of the needle....

It's a no brainer imo. Cervical cancer can cost your daughter her fertility and her life. Why woudn't you vaccinate?

Thanks. Both your posts are along the lines of my first reaction. Then I started reading up about the vaccinations online and the doubts started creeping in.

I suspect DD would be one of the fainters, though

No vaccination is risk free. No intervention ever is. I think the very, very small risk to an otherwise healthy child is well worth it in this case. Re fainting - they all get themselves in to a right wax. Dafties.

Mind you I remember exactly the same happening at my school with Ruebella BCG jabs.

dd had it, was worried as she has sn, but she was fine, and I didn't get any vad feed back from her friends either

I've seen several groups of Y8 girls have the vaccine and there have been no problems (other than a bit of needle panic on the day).

Agree with the need for the vaccine but not at age 12 - we were offered it for DD last year but turned it down, not least because it only last for a few years from what I heard. She can have it when she is 15 or 16, by which there may even be better vaccines.

That's reassuring. My niggling doubts arose because a few parents on some of the earlier threads were so adamant that vaccination had damaged their daughters' health. But then, with such enormous numbers of girls being vaccinated, statistically there will presumably always be a number, however small, who are adversely affected.

I guess the answer is to go ahead and hope that my DD is one of the vast majority who come through without any serious side effects. (Somehow that sounds immensely selfish and dismissive of those who are affected, but hopefully YKWIM.)

The problem with leaving it until 15 is that it is a sexually transmitted disease and so, with the best will in the world, in the thousands of 15 year olds across the country, a significant percentage will already be active.

Obviously individuals can choose to go to their GP a few years later but for the majority, it is key to catch them younger.

I've seen hundreds of girls go through the vaccination and there have been no drawbacks at all (other than the usual injection hysteria!)

Summersoon, I take your point, but I read that six years or so of immunity is all that can be claimed at the moment simply because that's how long the programme has lasted so far - apparently the immunity was still going strong at six years plus in many of the girls tested and may last much longer.

(This does of course add weight to the argument that the long-term benefits/risks of the vaccination aren't yet entirely known.)

I'd normally (and have in the past when I was head of Y8) been very supportive of the HPV jab.

However, I know it's only one out of over 100 but I know a student who has a constant period and incredible fatigue as a result of the HPV jab. And, as Heynonymouse says, it's a limited immunity in terms of time.

Difficult one to weigh up. I'd probably take the risk.

My friends' daughters have all had it and haven't reported any side-effects so DD is having it.

We read through the leaflet together and had a good chat about sex and stuff and she thinks she should have it too.

Consent signed.

For me the advantages FAR outweigh any disadvantages. DD had hers over a year ago. I rember hers being delayed as a girl somewhere (? can't remember where) tragically died on the day she got her HPV, however they subsequently discovered that there was no link. DD is absolutely fine, and so are the rest of her classmates

The limited immunity thing when they are having it aged 12 was the thing that made me say no. Yes, of course, some girls become sexually active at 13 or 14, but the majority don't. By 18, their immunity may be wearing off (and they'll think they're covered).