Anyone seen the new vaccine guideline?

[sunsera]

Originally Posted by Marielblewis There ARE over 100 forms of HPV, but only a few forms are known to develop into cervical cancer. These are the strains that are addressed in the vaccination. The recommendation for vacinating at ten is because that is the age when several other vaccines require "boosters" and also because the idea is to vaccinate before the child becomes sexually active, and at 10 kids are not sexually mature. 60% of adults between 20-40 have HPV, and because there are no symptoms and it passes through the very thin skin of the gentials and mouths, it is very difficult to prevent with education and behavior modification (although this is very effective with many other STDs). Most strains of HPV are more or less harmless, but some strains cause genital warts, others cervical cancer (these are the ones being vaccinated against) and a select few will cause warts in the throats of children born vaginally to an infected mother. I think as vaccines go, this is a legitimate vaccine that will provide real protection from the HPV strains that cause cervical cancer. Of course, it is still a vaccine and the same safety and health questions that many of us have about other vaccines definately apply to this one also. Side note- it is unlikely that there will ever be a vaccine for HIV because the virus mutates so quickly that by the time the vaccine is produced the structure of the virus being spread is different than the structure of the virus being vaccinated against. HPV also mutates, but amazingly slowly.

Very well said and informed! With that being said, I don't plan to vax anyday soon. We see a pediatrician and a naturopath and while I know the dangers of the diseases I also know the dangers of the vaccines and I honestly can't say that one is more dangerous than the other. ie, is it worse to inject formadelhyde or to risk rubella? Both sound unpleasant. We aren't going to vax, but it's a tough choice to make for us.

My only problem is when people say that they will educate their children about HIV, HPV, and other STDs and that will protect the child from the illness. Well...people make mistakes and young kids, no matter how well brought up, face the world and have to make tough decisions and it's possible that they make the wrong one. God forbid that wrong decision exposes them to a disease. So I understand why parents want to protect against Hep B and HPV. I do too. I want to protect my children from all diseases and I'll do my best by educating them and speaking openly about sex. I think it's wonderful when people only have sex with their one husband, but I will be realistic and teach my child self-respect and self-protection because statistically they have a higher chance of having more than one partner.

Condoms don't protect 100%. They just don't. A man can have a genital wart (flat, hardly noticeable) on his testicle, which is hardly covered by a condom. Very easy to pass on in sex. And let's not forget that not all STDs imply promiscuity. It seems that when people discuss STDs, vaxing against them, etc. it is always a moral issue. But you can marry a loving, wonderful, worthy man who has an STD and still desire to protect yourself.

So there are so many sides to vaccinations - and we've all read every post on them at one point or another. We aren't vaxing here because I'm not risking the toxicity of the vaccine, but I do understand why some families make the choice to vaccinate - it's such a thorny issue. Remember the good old days when we thought vaxs where 100% good???

[snowbird25ca]

HPV vax is such a thorn in my side... the FDA insert itself says that the vaccine hasn't been evaluated for the ability to cause cancer or genetic mutations.

But aside from that, there are 4 strains of the HPV virus included in the vaccine. 2 that are known to cause cervical cancer, and 2 known to cause genital warts. The 2 strains that are known to cause cervical cancer are responsible for causing about 70% of all cervical cancer that is caused by HPV. Approximately 90% of all cervical cancer is caused by HPV vax, so assuming that even if the vaccine was 100% effective, it would only be able to potentially prevent 63% of cervical cancer cases. Cervical cancer is responsible for less than 1% of all deaths from cancer in the US on an annual basis, and in the vast majority of cases early cell changes are detected by pap smears before the disease becomes invasive. Pap smears will still ultimately be the best preventative tool for invasive cervical cancer.

Part of the reason for wanting to give the HPV vax prior to girls becoming sexually active is that it's not known if giving the vax after a woman/girl has previously been exposed to HPV will increase the risk of her developing cervical cancer. Also important to know about this vaccine is that it was only followed for 4yrs in clinical trials and cervical cell changes can take anywhere from 10 yrs or longer to develop. Also they don't know how long the immunity lasts...

In regards to the mom who mentioned pertussis, the vaccine wouldn't have made any difference if your ds had had it or not seeing as he's just 8 months old now. (Assuming the age in your siggy is right..) You have to have the full series of pertussis shots before immunity is developed - IF you even develop immunity to it.

Rotavirus isn't on that list because it's only recommended for babies and toddlers. The immunity wanes after the first 2 yrs and it's expected that kids will still end up getting rotavirus sometime between the ages of 3 & 5.

And I just was reading an article today that I got through email about how they've tested 20 HIV vaccines already and they've all failed. Apparently an additional problem with the HIV vaccine is that it makes people's blood test positive for HIV once they've been given the vaccine, so it makes screening difficult. And since the virus mutates & there are so many different strains, it's unlikely there'll ever be an effective vax for it.

Oh, and for the record, we were selectively vaxing until my dd had a serious reaction to the 2nd DTaP/HIB/IPV vax and we haven't done any since then. Our new baby won't be getting a single vax. I'm not going through the same thing with him that we did with dd...