This was on the vaccine thread, and I saw it mentioned in this month's Consumer Reports, so I thought I'd share it:
"CR's take. Gardasil can help prevent cervical cancer, genital warts, and abnormal Pap smears, but even women who have received it should still get regular Pap tests because the vaccine protects against only 70% of cervical cancers. And until there are more long-term safety data, our consultants think the vaccine should not be made mandatory."Once again Consumer Reports hits the nail on the head!
Good enough for me!
Pip
Yep...my daughter thinks it may be a great idea. I am waiting until the bottom drops out. I cannot believe the hype for that shot. The nurse from our Allergist's office told my daughter to rush down and get it now. Of course it is almost 00.00, and not covered by insurance.
Michelle
I'm glad I read your post my 16 year old daughter's Dr wanted her to have this and I said I would like to wait until more research was in I never thought to check and see if if was coverd by my insurance carrier you would think it was but who knows.
Linda from NJ
Some communities are doing a "promotional" vaccine, but I am still not going to put my daughter through that, when most of the cancers talked about are curable if they are caught in time. Well, here's an article saying the HPV vaccine can cause JRA and otherThanks Gimpy - that is the first article I have seen about side effects more serious than the 'usual suspects' (you know, swelling at injection site, diarrhea...). Having a sibling w/JRA should certainly increase my older daughter's risk for that, I would think.
JasmineRain - you are so right about Consumer Reports! I always agree with them, and whenever they make a mistake, they step up and 'own it' right away (well, maybe not with the Suzuki Samurai years ago, but I guess they learned from that).
This article is actually in the October issue I just received. I tried to find it online, but they have Sept. posted only. Also in this issue, there is a very interesting letter to the editor from a dr. about drug samples, as well as a very interesting answer. It is too long to type, but I'll post the link once they put it on their site.
Don't rush off to get this vaccination for your daughters. Our dr kept pushing uus to get the last hep shot (B?) for our kids. We felt they were not at risk for this type of hep and besides it is quite treatable if they do get. But after being hassled about it for two years I finally gave in. Within a few months my daughter developed juvenile scleroderma (thankfully it is now in remission). There is starting to be some thinking that some vaccines can trigger autoimmune disease in people who are predisposed to autoimmune problems. Not to freak you out, but think carefully! My daughter does not want the gaurdisil vaccine, and that is fine with me.
Laker
I believe the drug company that makes guardisil was pushing school districts to make it mandatory. I agree with all of you--not enough is known about the drug. Just too soon. Too many bad side effects.Hi,
It's not quite accurate that the vaccine is only 70% effective, I'm not sure where that came from. The vaccine protects against infection by a small range of forms of the HPV virus. These forms of the virus are those that CAN (in some people) cause pre-cancerous cell changes which CAN (in some people) lead to cervical cancer. It will never prevent 100% of cervical cancer because HPV infection is only one of the causes of cervical cancer (although it is the most common cause). It is not a vaccine against cancer but against infection by the virus. HPV is an extremely common virus and most people will be exposed to it in one of it's forms at some point. It is not treatable, once you've got it it's there for life. It is not known why some people develop cancer and some don't. The vaccine, if given before ANY sexual contact has occurred should protect against infection with the forms of HPV that cause cancer. It would be vital to keep up with cervical screening as you can get cervical cancer with no HPV (although this is rare). Cervical screening should also pick up other problems such as other infections.
I have done alot of research into this as it has affected most of the female members of my family. I understand concerns about side effects but please get your information from trusted resources. A link on the vaccines thread to a website campaigning against vaccines scared me because so much of the information was mis-interpreted or mis-represented.
KT
BTTT Wow.