<p>I guess I’m in the minority. Our pediatrician didn’t push it very hard, so we’ve decided to wait. Plus some random guy keeps sending me letters advising me not to get it, listing several reasons. I don’t know how he even knows I have a daughter this age or how he got my address, but this is clearly his mission in life. Weird, huh?</p>
<p>One of my kids had a horrible autoimmune reaction to a vaccine, so now we pretty much avoid vaccines that aren’t absolutely necessary. Meningitis, yes. That kills in 24 hours or less sometimes. Guardisil, no. Doesn’t protect against all types of HPV. </p>
<p>Cancer is scary, but if you have any tendency towards autoimmune issues running in your family (celiac, crones, eczema, MS) the potential vaccine reactions are even scarier. You kind of have to weigh the upside/downside.</p>
<p>My daughter got Gardasil in her junior year of HS into the senior year. Her pediatrician had daughters and when he felt it was safe for his girls to get it, I got it for my DD.</p>
<p>I had my boys at the doctor (new one, family specialist as our ped passed away) and asked her about the shots for them. She said it is still speculative and insurance doesn’t cover it on boys yet. My boys are 14 and 16 so they have a while to wait.</p>
<p>I am a big believer in vaccines and keep my kids up to date.</p>
<p>Yes for boys! My son had no ill effects.</p>
<p>Through my employment, I am aware of men not only with penile and throat cancer supposedly linked to HPV, but disfiguring warts and associated psychological issues.</p>
<p>I vote yes. I have not seen any reliable evidence of autoimmune or other issues with the vaccine.</p>
<p>me neither. what did those letters say?</p>
<p>We don’t do this one in our family. The gyn wasn’t particularly worried about it and said that as long as we come for regular pap smears she didn’t think it was necessary. That was a few years ago and now I think she is a stronger supporter of it, but now I’m too old. Only one of the girls in the extended family got it and she was in so much pain from the shots that I don’t think she completed the series.</p>
<p>I have no interest in Dr. Zanga’s opinion on the matter. His political agenda is impossible to separate from his medical opinion so I wouldn’t trust anything the man has to say. Unfortunately, many of the reports of the scary side effects have been promoted by those who feel that providing young girls with protection from sexually transmitted disease encourages bad behavior so they tend to state numbers and assume causation.</p>
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<p>Oh yeah…that is creepy. He must have an agenda. And how did he gat your family information?</p>
<p>Yes. My husband does head and neck cancer research and says that they believe the increasing rates of throat cancer are caused by the HPV virus and that it is extremely important that boys get it too.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, in Texas it became a heated political issue. Years ago (when the vaccine was pretty new) the Governor (not the Legislature) mandated it for all middle school girls in public schools. There was strong suspicion that the drug company was giving the Governor financial encouragement to make the edict, so he finally backed off.</p>
<p>I don’t want to get into politics at all. I’m just saying that the political component took the focus off of a serious discussion of the vaccine.</p>
<p>I have autoimmune issues and avoid vaccines when I can, but my girls haven’t shown any of this yet. Our kids’ doctor hasn’t pushed it or even suggested it…more like “it’s available, do you want it?”</p>
<p>Here’s the CDC’s own information on the adverse reactions to Gardasil (51 deaths and other neurological adverse reactions are enough to stop me from giving this to my girls until they make a safer version):</p>
<p>[CDC</a> - Reports of Health Concerns Following HPV Vaccination - Vaccine Safety](<a href=“http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/vaccines/hpv/gardasil.html]CDC”>CDC - 001 This page has moved - Vaccine Safety)</p>
<p>jkiwmom, you can’t determine that the vaccine is unsafe based on those reports. For example, someone may have gotten a Ghardisil vaccine and may have had a blood clot sometime following the vaccine. It would be much more likely that blood clot was related to BCP’s. If there was a clear 8% serious adverse effects that could be related to the vaccine it would be pulled off the market.</p>
<p>Just to add, my daughter got it and my son sil be getting it. It does not eliminate all HPV but is effective against the oncogenic ones. The HPV virus causes cervical, penile and many head and neck cancers. I want a world in which my daughter doesn’t have to get pap smears. It would also be a huge public health savings.</p>
<p>Both Ds had Gardasil series. D1 was in one of the initial pilot studies for the vaccine. (3 year double blind) Neither had any adverse reactions. (Not even D2 who has a history of idiosyncratic reactions to vaccinations.)</p>
<p>D2 reports that nearly all of her gay male friends have gotten Gardasil vaccinations–no adverse reactions among them either.</p>
<p>I completely understand that when something unexplained happens after a vaccination, the tendency would be to blame the vaccine, but there has been nothing to connect deaths to Gardasil. If millions of doses of saline solution are given, there are going to be a certain number of deaths days, weeks and months after the doses. </p>
<p>My daughter almost fainted after getting the meningitis vaccine, and had to stay for a while after the injection because she was dizzy. However, she practically faints every time she is near a needle. I wondered afterwards if they reported her reaction. If so, that would be an example of an event without causation.</p>
<p>^^ the link was to the govt. CDC site, so the stats are enough to make me question whether it’s safe. I have a daughter that had a severe reaction to a routine DPT vaccine at 6 mos. and that experience changed the way I view “statistics” since she’s MY CHILD, not a number. And someone brought up blood clots (mentioned in the CDC link as well, right before you scroll down to deaths), and I actually have protein S deficiency which is a genetic clotting disorder (cannot be on birth control pills and must be on Heparin injections while pregnant). It’s possible that my daughter’s have this deficiency as well. There are 5 known genetic clotting disorders and much of our population doesn’t even know they have one (I didn’t know until I went through infertility/miscarriages years in my 30’s). These disorders should be at least tested for before we automatically inject a 12 year old girl with this vaccine. Is that unreasonable to error on the side of caution at the very least? (I have been saying the same of birth control pills which are responsible for strokes in 20 yr. old women). I am not anti-vaccine at all. My kids have been vaccinated. But I do demand that we inject them with safe vaccines.</p>
<p>^^^^I certainly understand your caution, but Gardasil is not contraindicated in those with clotting disorders so why screen for clotting disorders? From the FDA website:</p>
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<p>It is doubtful that Gardasil caused any of the clotting problems so why test people before-hand. You can’t screen everyone before any medication or vaccine prescribed. Why single this one out?</p>
<p>Genetic clotting disorders make a person more susceptable to clotting in general and the above posters mentioned “it’s probably due to blood clots”. The same reasons for oral contraceptives being a risk factor will be the same for genetic clotting disorders. Clotting disorders become more of a problem with certain hormones. This is why women with protein S deficiency, Factor X, and the other 3 disorders are prescribed Heparin while pregnant. Since the above posters mentioned blood clots, I was simply pointing out that most people aren’t even aware they have the disorder and that screening before injecting would seem to protect at least a small percentage of children receiving the vaccine. I didn’t say that Gardisil caused blood clots.</p>
<p>You also just pasted the exact link that I posted above. Yes, I know. That’s why the concern.</p>
<p>yes, D got the shots as soon as I could get her a doctor’s appt (I used to joke with her, “don’t have sex until after you’ve had the third shot.” What a kidder…) She had no adverse reactions.</p>
<p>I can still remember how my childhood choir director died of cervical cancer. She was 28 years old at the time.</p>