HPV vaccine, don't know what to do!

[Busymummy50]

Before a few days ago, only knew hpv vaccine was for girls. 13 year old brought home a consent letter last Friday. Vaccination takes place 29th at school.

Initially I thought it was a good idea. I had a smear which came back with hpv found and then had a biopsy years ago. Luckily I was ok and my immune system fought it off. So I knew all about it.

Then I looked into possible side effects and asked other parents (as boys have only been offer this since 2018, so not long). Friends sons have already had it and my son's friends at school are going to have it. But the more I've researched, the more serious side effects I'm finding. I know these have not been proven but I cannot help to worry.

I have consented but having second thoughts. My partner on the other hand is happy for the vaccine to go ahead despite my findings but is also happy is our son doesn't have the vaccine as most of the time our bodies would fight it off.

I just don't know what to do! Has anyone's child had it and had side effects or chosen not to have it and why? Does anyone have more information on these serious side effects?

To be fair you asked for information on ‘these serious side effects’. Feedback has been unanimously that they don’t exist and that your sources are iffy. I’m sorry if that’s made you feel ‘stupid’ but there’s no other way of saying they don’t exist!

Awaiting the date for DS13 to get his. He missed out as first lockdown happened last year...

Oh my goodness. They wouldn't offer it if there was a serious risk of side effects. I had it as a young teenager at school and was absolutely fine. Consider that it will stop your son from getting genital warts and from passing on high risk strains of HPV to girls which could develop into cervical cancer. Yes, most of the time our bodies fight it off - except in the cases it doesn't and someone dies.

@EarringsandLipstick

It's just I saw this [[//www.regret.ie]]e* That site was last updated in 2018. Most of the information is really out of date (2015 in most cases)

No-one in my daughter's year had any issues. I don't know a single person who has had issues.

Thank you for pointing that out to me.

OP I declined this jab for my daughter and we have regular conversations around it still. I wanted her to decide when/whether to have it due to the high number of adverse reactions being reported. Since then a friend's daughter had it and suffered an extreme life threatening reaction which caused almost a year of serious illness. Many years later she is still not 100% and may never recover completely.

I am very pro vax and elected to have other vaccines not offered by the NHS. This is the only one we declined.

@flicktheswitch22

OP I declined this jab for my daughter and we have regular conversations around it still. I wanted her to decide when/whether to have it due to the high number of adverse reactions being reported. Since then a friend's daughter had it and suffered an extreme life threatening reaction which caused almost a year of serious illness. Many years later she is still not 100% and may never recover completely.

I am very pro vax and elected to have other vaccines not offered by the NHS. This is the only one we declined.

You declined it on behalf of your daughter because someone else got ill after having it and that may not even have been connected with having the vaccine?

No. Read my post.

Ok, apologies I just did re-read - so what was the relevance of the friend who had a reaction after having the vaccine to your decision not to allow your DD to have it?

The relevance is that many posters were berating the OP for even giving the matter consideration, implying she is foolish and saying of course it is 'safe'.

At the time my daughter was scheduled to have the jab there were a significant number of adverse side effects being reported (far higher than in other routine vaccinations), which is why we held off and allowed her to make the decision herself.

I wouldn't normally berate anyone on Mumsnet but there's always a few people who think they know better than actual scientists and it's so infuriating.

The risk of experiencing an extreme side effect from HPV is 0.0001%. And just because you know someone or know of someone who did, that doesn't have any bearing on whether your child would experience that side effect.

However, the chance of getting HPV is almost a certainty - if you are sexually active, you will encounter it at some point. Yes, some of those may not be the aggressive kinds, and yes, your body may rid itself of the virus naturally. But there are 12 high risk types of HPV and 2 of them are responsible for 70% of cervical cancer cases. And cervical cancer is responsible for 7.5% of all female cancer deaths.

I am extremely glad I had the vaccine as a child, although I still had to have a colposcopy and biopsy after my screening last year because of abnormal cell changes. It's not worth playing with your children's health because you decide, based on anecdotal evidence, or from a few Google searches, that you know better.

@flicktheswitch22

OP I declined this jab for my daughter and we have regular conversations around it still. I wanted her to decide when/whether to have it due to the high number of adverse reactions being reported. Since then a friend's daughter had it and suffered an extreme life threatening reaction which caused almost a year of serious illness. Many years later she is still not 100% and may never recover completely.

I am very pro vax and elected to have other vaccines not offered by the NHS. This is the only one we declined.

Thank you for sharing info with me. So good that someone understands my worries.

Some people have severe and life-threatening reactions to eating strawberries.

Would you tell your child that they can no longer eat strawberries, because you heard about someone who died after eating one?

It's understandable to be concerned about your child's health, but refusing a vaccine is pure stupidity (unless your child was immunocompromised in some way) - sorry.

@snackmonster

I wouldn't normally berate anyone on Mumsnet but there's always a few people who think they know better than actual scientists and it's so infuriating.

The risk of experiencing an extreme side effect from HPV is 0.0001%. And just because you know someone or know of someone who did, that doesn't have any bearing on whether your child would experience that side effect.

However, the chance of getting HPV is almost a certainty - if you are sexually active, you will encounter it at some point. Yes, some of those may not be the aggressive kinds, and yes, your body may rid itself of the virus naturally. But there are 12 high risk types of HPV and 2 of them are responsible for 70% of cervical cancer cases. And cervical cancer is responsible for 7.5% of all female cancer deaths.

I am extremely glad I had the vaccine as a child, although I still had to have a colposcopy and biopsy after my screening last year because of abnormal cell changes. It's not worth playing with your children's health because you decide, based on anecdotal evidence, or from a few Google searches, that you know better.

I don't think I know better than any scientists. If I did, I wouldn't be on here asking to hear from other parents and if any kids have had serious side effects. I would be declining this vaccine for my son. Nothing wrong with asking for opinions and hearing others experiences.

You're not over worrying. It's natural to want to know the good and bad.
My dc are too old to have been offered the vaccine but I'd have allowed them to have it 100%
My sisters, like you, read up but agreed to their own dc having it.

I wish it was around when I was young, it would have saved me from a lifetime of abnormal smears, awful treatments and a lot of stress and tears for the last 25 years, which resulted in a cervical cancer diagnosis last year because of bastarding high risk HPV! (2 x high risk types)
Luckily because I'm regularly at the Colposcopy clinic it was caught very quickly while predominantly still in situ, It could have been way worse.
Without wanting to scare people HPV is not as simple as '
''oh yeah, you'll be fine! 80% of people will have had it or get it at some point so don't worry it'll clear up! ''
It feels like a massive negligence of health of our times - there's not enough factually and scientifically told to us, unless you've reason to dig deeper. Medical professionals, unless they work in the area do not know enough to give real answers ime. Which I kind of understand as there's literally nothing, if you're sexually active, you can do stop it, so maybe it's intentionally made to sound trivial or minor as there's no point making people afraid.
So yeah I'm all for the vaccines!

@Busymummy50 with respect, what do you hope to achieve by asking people on Mumsnet if they've experienced side effects of the vaccine?

You're either going to read enough to dissuade you from getting your son the vaccine, or you will end up worrying yourself unnecessarily. You only need to look at the NHS webpage for the HPV vaccine to see how uncommon severe side effects are.

If you search long enough online, you can find absolutely anything. I would be very wary about trusting people online about something as vital as vaccinations.

@Fuckityfucksake

You're not over worrying. It's natural to want to know the good and bad. My dc are too old to have been offered the vaccine but I'd have allowed them to have it 100% My sisters, like you, read up but agreed to their own dc having it.

I wish it was around when I was young, it would have saved me from a lifetime of abnormal smears, awful treatments and a lot of stress and tears for the last 25 years, which resulted in a cervical cancer diagnosis last year because of bastarding high risk HPV! (2 x high risk types)
Luckily because I'm regularly at the Colposcopy clinic it was caught very quickly while predominantly still in situ, It could have been way worse.
Without wanting to scare people HPV is not as simple as '
''oh yeah, you'll be fine! 80% of people will have had it or get it at some point so don't worry it'll clear up! ''
It feels like a massive negligence of health of our times - there's not enough factually and scientifically told to us, unless you've reason to dig deeper. Medical professionals, unless they work in the area do not know enough to give real answers ime. Which I kind of understand as there's literally nothing, if you're sexually active, you can do stop it, so maybe it's intentionally made to sound trivial or minor as there's no point making people afraid.
So yeah I'm all for the vaccines!

Thank you for sharing your experience and I'm so sorry you've been through what you've been through :(

I've lost someone to HPV related cervical cancer. Their life immediately prior to dying was horrific, filled with radical surgery, chemo, palliative treatment. Leaving behind small children, family and friends devastated at the loss of a young life with so much ahead of her. Gone. Please get your child vaccinated, this disease is prevalent and preventable, and although as with any medicine there are reports of side effects, these are rare events. Preventative medicine is significantly better than the alternative.

[quote snackmonster]@Busymummy50 with respect, what do you hope to achieve by asking people on Mumsnet if they've experienced side effects of the vaccine?

You're either going to read enough to dissuade you from getting your son the vaccine, or you will end up worrying yourself unnecessarily. You only need to look at the NHS webpage for the HPV vaccine to see how uncommon severe side effects are.

If you search long enough online, you can find absolutely anything. I would be very wary about trusting people online about something as vital as vaccinations.[/quote]
Merck's best selling painkiller vioxx was taken off the market in 2004 after a study showed it increased risks of heart problems. This was after years of saying it was 'safe'.

Gardasil 9 was introduced in 2014. Prior to that was Gardasil and cervarix. It can take over 10 years for cervical cancer to develop. Boys have not had the vaccine for as long as girls. So is it not normal to worry? How do you 'know' for certain it is 'safe' when other 'safe' drugs have been taken off the market?

I'm so sorry that a few people on here doesn't understand how I am feeling. It's not about what I'm trying to achieve by coming onto mumsnet. It's about talking to other parents, who can offer support or share information, some information I may not have known. Also, sometimes some decisions, just needs time to get your head around.

OP every single medical procedure and drug carries the possibility of side effects.

Do you have a box of paracetamol? If so go and look at the leaflet inside, and the side effects on that leaflet. On paper they look terrifying, but in reality they are very few and far between.

Truth is that if we paid attention to every side effect of every drug we would never take anything.

I take a drug which makes me hyper sensitive to the sun. It also carries the possibility of liver and lung damage, overactive thyroid, etc etc. But the benefit of it outweighs the risk.

I went into hospital for open heart surgery two years ago, a procedure which I was told carried a 4% risk of death. A miniscule percentage, and when I arrived at the hospital the surgeon came to see me and said he wasn’t going to do the surgery because based on my scans he estimated I would be part of the figures which made up that 4%.

There is always going to be some anecdotal evidence of someone having had a side effect. But if you can’t put off everything because of one person among millions who has had a side effect.

If cervical cancer can take over 10 years to develop, and boys have only had the vaccine for less time than girls, does anyone have statistics of the vaccine reducing cervical, anal, penile, throat and head an check cancers since the vaccine was released?

DS just missed out on it being given to boys at school. I have paid for him to have it at Boots, as I could never live with myself if I could have prevented him getting certain cancers for the sake of just under £500, given that his sister was allowed the jab at school.

This thread gave me a heart attack - I thought I'd forgotten to give consent for my son to have his second dose (it's fine, I haven't).

Teens also have the 3 in 1 booster and MenAwcy vaccine. Are there any info online about people who have had these and had a serious reactions? Doesn't seem to have 'conspiracies' As the HPV with groups set up and parents saying their kids were affected by the vaccine.

My HPV resulted in Cervical Cancer so DS will be getting the vaccine next year. Thankfully I'm all clear now but anything that reduces the chance of DS going through all the stress, treatment, months of worry then he will be having it.

I'm not entirely sure how yet because he is petrified of needles (SEN) so won't be a case of having it at school easy peasy but we will figure it out

OP, many people, myself included, have tried to gently explain that you are putting too much weight into unverified claims about side effects to the vaccine. You are putting your trust in people that have no medical training or background. Anyone can claim that xyz happened to them after having a vaccination, they don't have to prove it, they can write what they like on the internet. I understand your concerns, but you need to put more weight into the medical research that has been conducted into the vaccine and it's possible side effects. That research has to be backed up with solid evidence, and it is peer reviewed to make sure that the results and research are accurate. It's so easy for someone to claim they got ill after a vaccine, but they haven't proved the connection, they have no evidence to back up their claims.