Would you get your teenage son the HPV vaccine?

Considering how common the HPV is yes, I’d get it for him. It’s pretty cheap protection.

Absolutely!

Without a second thought.

Until recently, it wasn’t allowed to be administered to boys. I tried to get vaccinated for it a couple of years ago, just for the protection, but the doctor told me it’s only approved for girls. I don’t known when that changed, but it has apparently.

I’d definitely consider it. For the greater good it definitely is advisable. Men are giving cancer to women basically, because they carry the virus with no knowledge. I am not saying men are more culpable, just saying they are basically the silent carriers. For the man himself, men can get anal, tongue, mouth, throat cancer from HPV, so they are at risk themselves.

Absolutely… not only to protect himself, but to help protect his future partners as well as try to reduce the burden of the virus in the teen/young adult population.

Seems like a good idea for pretty much anyone it’s approved for. I got a Hep A vaccine because I do a lot of traveling – once I understood what that was about it seemed like a no brainer.

Oh, it’s an excellent idea! Yes, it will prevent him from becoming a carrier and giving the virus to others, but he could also get some nasty diseases from HPV. I don’t know the list by heart, but I believe men can get anal cancer and a few other nasty forms.

Fun fact: Women with HPV will not pass the disease on to children they give birth to unless they have genital warts at the time of birth.

@KatawaGrey That doesn’t sound correct. Do you have a link maybe? If the virus is present the baby can catch the virus when travelling down the birth canal, although it is very very rare. I think there are only a couple of strains of the virus that are of concern to cause illness in newborns. The vaccination only works on a few strains also. Not sure if it is the same strains.

My son is getting it at his next vaccination appointment. It’s the responsible thing to do to protect any girls he may end up with.

My daughter, who is younger, is getting the vaccination next summer at her physical.

Their mom is all in favor: she had an incompetent cervix because of having a cone section removed when she was 23 after a bad PAP smear.

@JLeslie: I don’t have a link but I do have the word of my gynecologist.

No. It doesn’t protect againt enough wart viruses and it’s side effects can be severe.

@KatawaGrey If you have seen me around fluther, that is not enough for me. I am not being critical of you, or saying what I stated is correct, I am not sure, I just think doctors are wrong all of the time.

Nope. Not a chance.

Yes, I’d do it. Medical science has come a long way.

@KatawaGrey and @JLeslie I found this article interesting. HPV lesions are mentioned in the discussion.

I’m not fond of any drug companies that take politicians to bed with them…I’ve been following Gardisil & Rick Perry for sometime now.

The vaccine has some dangerous side effects and covers only certain strains of HPV…which I know I have discussed here in Fluther prior to this.

Yes, both of my sons got it. I think its the responsible thing to to do. But I guess it would be up to the the individual.

@SpatzieLover FYI, the strains are supposed to be some of the most likely to caise cancer. You probably know I am on the fence about a lot of vaccines, so I am not trying to convince you of anything, just thought I would mention about the strains.

@JLeslie I have throroughly educated myself on this vaccine. I appreciate the info though.

@JLeslie: Well, considering that I have all of my original body parts, my mother is alive several times over and, well, I exist, I trust doctors. :)

@KatawaGrey You just reaffirmed my confidence in doctors. There are some crappy ones, but most of them are OK.

I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t give it to my daughters, yet, either. It’s just too “new,” in my opinion. Don’t beat me up over it, because I know someone is itching to.

It is new, but they’ve been working with viruses for a long time. Can I be the one to beat up Nef?

@KatawaGrey Ok. So, how do you feel about the fact that doctors used to give hormones out to women like candy after menopause because it was supposed to make them healthier, but now we have proven it can actually cause serious problems? And, that my dad was prescribed two drugs together by the same doctor that are specifically stated to not be prescribed together in a black box warning on the package insert information because it can cause death. Or, that my dad on his last medical procedure told the doctor not to give him a particular drug to anesthetize him, but the doc didn’t listen, gave it to him, my dad wound up having to be wheeled over to the hospital his heart rate went so low, and he never had the procedure he needed done that day. My mom told a doctor the last time she had a colonoscopy her blood pressure was out of control for 48 hours, and he still prescibed her a potassium prep. The prep actually also has a specific warning not to be given with the blood pressure medication she takes. She and I found out what she could take instead of that preo. The doctor didn’t do anything to help her. A less knowing patient would have no idea. If they didn’t stroke or die, well, they didn’t stroke or die, but it doesn’t make it ok. I am not telling you all doctors suck, I think far from that, but I am telling you to maybe not trust them blindly. It depends what they are treating really.

I would not mind getting the shot my self. I trust vaccines, I have had loads of them over the years, specially as a child. Appart from bad things I had to eat and wounds, I can’t precisely recall the last time I was sick with anything other than a cold. I think I was probably 10 or something the last time I got sick.

As I understand it, these things follow the scientific method, they have animal testing an double blind clinical trials, and it’s very rare that something gets in that causes a great deal of damage. The last big one I can think of was thalidomide.

@KatawaGrey The link @Cupcake provided suggests what I said. Vertical transmission is possible but very rare.

@JLeslie: Ah, good point, my mother should have died of cancer, kidney failure or appendicitis to re-affirm your distrust of doctors. Oh, and I shouldn’t exist. Or be able to walk. But, sorry, I can, I guess it means some doctors know what they are doing! :D

@KatawaGrey I would say most doctors, most of the time, know what they are doing. Just don’t be all trusting is my advice. As you get older and have more illness, God forbid, you will see what I mean.

@snowberry it’s VERY safe.

@JLeslie: Ah, my mistake, your previous comment about thinking doctors are wrong all of the time made me think that you don’t trust what doctors have to say. I’m not actually qualified to self-diagnose on things like cancer or aggressive infertility both of which are very likely to happen to me. I’m glad you have the expertise to do so but until such time as I have the same kind of expertise, I will trust doctors to treat me.

I think it’s only fair that they do, for their sake and for their partner’s sake.

I think it is a lot of hype and oversell by the pharma companies who lobbied state legislators to require the vaccine for school aged children. It is the same principle as flu shots. It is a matter of personal choice but not something I’d select to do for my son or daughter.

I had no idea it was available for boys, I think it’s a fantastic preventative measure and will run this by my fiancee for his two teen boys, both are sexually active.

Absolutely. All 3 of my girls have had all or some of the series of shots, and I’d do the same if I had a son.

Also: [mod says] This is our Question of the Day!

@bkcunningham As much as I tend to agree with @ANef_is_Enuf about wanting it out on the market a long time before putting it into my body or one of my kids (if I had kids) I don’t think it is hype. The only hype I have seen is Bachmann making it political against Perry, and Perry, from what I understand originally did not include the ability for parents to wave the vaccine if they were against it. But, I see no difference in putting the HPV vaccine on schedule like measles, mumps, and polio. It is certainly not like the flu. Something like 80% of the population has HPV, and at any time they can be contagious and pass it along. It is a silent killer. The flu, well, people are sick, they can choose to keep themselves out of circulation while sick, and people can choose to stay away from the sick. Once a person is over the flu, they cannot get the rest of the population sick. Bachmann “spoke” to her followers because the Christian right tends to hide their heads in the sand about how sexually active our teens are. Perry, to his credit, lifted himself out of his religiousness and took into consideration that HPV can kill people, and be passed along unwittingly. I think Perry said his campaign received something like $5k from that pharm company. If that is true, I don’t see that as a big payoff.

I mean it is hyped up like getting a flu shot, @JLeslie. It is just my opinion, but I think people buy into the panic and commercialization by the drug companies.

The FDA says, “Up to 20 percent of the sexually active US populatoin is believed to be infected with the HPV at any one time. Most women who become infected with HPV are able to eradicate the virus and suffer no apparent long-term consequences to their health. But a few women develop a persistent infection that can eventually lead to pre-cancerous changes in the cervix.” (My emphasis on words in bold.)

Like I said, it is a personal choice.

http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/07p0210/07p-0210-ccp0001-01-FDA-News-vol3.pdf

@bkcunningham Well, I certainly do agree the flu vaccine is hyped in the media sometimes, especially the H1N1. I don’t think the HPV vaccine is hyped the same way. That’s my perception. It might depend on local media.

@JLeslie did it occur to you that H1N1 was much less severe precisely because it received so much attention and precaution?

@gorillapaws My mom, who worked for vaccinations for the FDA, said to me that when flu season comes back around it will be like any other flu season most likely, death percentages seemed fairly typical. That the numbers were not panning out from the initial outbreak to be considered an unusual threat. You may remember we first heard of it out of Latin America, I think Mexico, and then we were getting cases up here. It came to our attention in the summer, and so we ramped up vaccinations for winter flu season. The flu had petered out as expected through the end of the summer, it actually did not seem as virulent as once feared. But, the media went crazy. And, then we had to sell all those vaccines. I saw a clip of the health minister and Poland and they did not even allow the H1N1 vaccine because it was rushed to order and the threat did not seem accute enough.

@JLeslie it was killing young and old people in Mexico city. It was scary. With the cold war over, I think the threat of a nuclear winter is far smaller than a massive deadly pandemic like in 12 monkeys, or the stand. I don’t live my life in fear of this, but the strong response to something that could have turned out to be on that scale was very comforting to me. I would much rather them respond with an abundance of precaution and produce too many vaccines than not enough if it had turned out to be worse than it was.

I think everyone in the CDC, FDA and other groups that responded to that threat should get metals, not criticism. It’s like criticizing a fire department for using too much water to put out a house fire.

@JLeslie: In the past near three years, just in our two dealerships alone, we had 4 people I know for sure diagnosed and hospitalized for H1N1 and it was severe. My fiancee got it two years ago but we didn’t get him checked out in until he was so weak that he gave in to my badgering. The emergency told him he was very lucky. We had thought he was suffering extra bad because he was detoxing at the same time, chalked it up to withdrawal.

I had the Gardasil vaccine several years ago when it first came out. I got it right away because I was 25 at the time and it’s only approved up to the age of 26 right now.

I am planning to have my oldest son get it once he is a bit older (probably around 11 or 12).

I expect to teach my teenage son to keep his pants on until he’s married, thereby avoiding the whole issue entirely.

@Nullo unless he either makes a mistake or gets raped.

@gorillapaws I can’t see what kind of mistake he could make in this case.

Or unless his future wife is raped.

@augustlan How’s about we burn that bridge when we get to it?

@Nullo What are you chances your son will do something other than what you have taught him to do?

@Nullo I hope my son waits until marriage as well, but would still give him the vaccine. It’s more of an “I can teach my dog to stay in the front yard, but I still put him on a leash” thing for me. Plus, having been raped at 15, I think this issue is about avoiding the bridge than burning it when you come to it… it’s too late at that point.

@wundayatta – Right. Teenagers often have an odd habit of thinking for themselves :-p

@gorillapaws I also think the initial response by the CDC and FDA deserves applause to. But then the extended hype and fear caused by the media went too far in my opinion, once we saw it was not mich different thanan average flu season. Children did seem to be getting worse symptoms than a typical flu season, so that was legitamately scary. But, I would argue that most Americans are clueless about how deadly flu is every year. I would also argu that Americans who barely knew what the word pandemic meant, all of a sudden were throwing around that word like they were medical experts after being terrified by the media. The flu every year is almost always pandemic, not just H1N1.

@gorillapaws Here is a CDC link about death rates from flu. I didn’t follow other links from the page, but it looks like there were years during the 90’s that had mich higher death rates than what we saw with H1N1. Of course flu related deaths are just estimates. And, I wanted to mention that I think vaccination of course does help control the spread of flu most years. There are also years here and there they guess competely wrong which flu will realy take hold, and the shot does nothing to protect those who took it.