Is the hep B vaccine something that’s commonly refused? That’s one of the birth vaccines so I’m not sure how that would be giving the kid permission to have sex earlier than expected.
With the HPV vaccine, I can almost (but not really) buy the argument that it’s giving kids the OK since they already at an age when they can understand what’s going on… but infants?
Plan to get the shot series completed before they leave for school. My D got the second shot at the student health center and our insurance only covered $1 because it was out-of-network. I couldn’t find any pharmacies that administered this vaccine so we bought a plane ticket for the third shot.
Also get the wisdom teeth in senior year.
I’d bet that most kids have never heard of HPV and it’s far from the main thing dissuading them, and hopefully they understand that this vaccine doesn’t protect them from HIV or various other nasty STDs. So, I don’t see where the perception of encouragement to have sex is coming from.
@mathyone I’m referring to the parents who have the option to withhold this vaccine to their minor children, who have no say. They, not the kids, are the ones voicing the opinion that being vaccinated produces the perception that it’s now “safe” to go ahead and have sex. Nowhere did I say that that perception is grounded in reality.
A decade after the start of the vaccine in Australia, cervical cancer rates cut in half.
Both my kids got the vaccine in HS (can’t recall when but finished the 3 shots by age 16) per recommendation from the family practice doctors. S gave me a hard time about the follow-up shots until his doctor (had just switched from a youngish female pediatrician to a middle-aged male GP) gave him a brief, graphic talk about the ill effects of things that can be sexually transmitted, and offered to show him photos of male genital warts–at which point S clammed up.
I too have a friend who died in her 30s from cervical cancer. She was a DES daughter. Get your children the vaccine! Cervical cancer is not a nice way to go.
One of my relatives is 26–her insurer has told her she will be covered for 100% of vaccination costs as long as she begins them at age 26, even if the 2nd and 3rd shots are after she’s 27.
There is a man in Orlando that developed oral cancer due to the HPV virus. Check out the hospital’s PSA:
https://www.floridahospital.com/landing/system/2015/head-neck/
Gardasil is covered by most, if not all insurance plans; please get your children vaccinated! Your pediatrician or gynecologist will do this for you.
^^Yeah so did Michael Douglas. He’s done a lot of good for talking about it.
My friend who died of cervical cancer knew she was at high risk. She had Pap smears every 6 months and had a cervical biopsy 3 months before her diagnosis - they all had missed the cancer. How nice if she had never had had to worry about all that, much less get sick and die at such a young age.
@greenwitch I’m so sorry for your loss 
@techmom99 - DS13 had the chickenpox when he was a baby. So he did not get the shots. However when he applied to college they required either a test showing he had immunity or he could go ahead and get the shots anyway. Our doctor said that in his experience only about 1/2 the kids that had chicken pox when they were babies and were tested for college actually had immunity… So if I were you I would either have your DS17 tested or just go ahead and have the shots anyway. Even if the college he goes to doesn’t end up requiring it , if he isn’t immune then he may get it later on in life and it’s harder on adults.
I suspect the low rate is a combination of things, I think some of it is the space cadets who think that immunizations cause everything from autism to the heartbreak of psoriasis and the Zombia apocalypse, then there are those who think because HPV is sexually transmitted, that somehow innoculating kids is promoting promiscuity (the old wages of sin stuff). I also wonder if maybe doctors are not pushing it (and that is just speculation), most people tend to go along with what the doctor says, unless the doctor indicates that something may be optional, so I wonder how much doctors are stressing this, that with the other factors might explain this. .
I plan to share this info with my 20-something son who has not had the vaccine, as he is and independent adult who makes his own decisions. Hopefully I will have some influence in this matter.
My younger daughter had the series in the summer before college and into freshman year when it was first offered to her (son was in college then). At that time I was not aware of the need for boys to have it. Our pediatrician never mentioned it. Then son graduated and moved on to a family practice doc in another state who also never offered it.
Three years ago, when Michael Douglas went public with his throat cancer, was when I first became aware of the dangers for males, but I was under the impression that insurance did not cover immunization for males at that time. In what year did they begin recommending/covering the HPV vac for males?
@ManhattanBoro - Thank you for starting this thread.
@musicprnt you will not bring the anti-vaxxers to your side by calling them “space cadets”. I have some friends that are mothers and who won’t vaccinate their kids. I don’t call them names, I do make a point of talking about how relieved I am that my kids are protected from many virulent diseases, I talk about how hard it is to watch your kid get stuck by needles, but that it’s worth it for both them and for others who they are protecting via herd immunity, and I try to lead by example.
If they try and engage me about the dangers of vaccination I respond with a few facts about the fatality rates of diptheria, pertussis, and the other viruses that we can now teach our own bodies to conquer. Usually they shake their heads and stop because it’s painful for them to reconsider such a strongly held belief.
You won’t get them to rethink their positions by putting them on the defensive and calling them names. They’re not stupid people; they’re just making decisions based on emotions and bad data.
I’ve personally never met an anti vaxxer with common sense.
Space cadet is one of the nicest things I’d ever call them. I prefer purposefully ignorant, potential killers, and child neglecters/endangerers.
But I don’t engage with them at all anymore. I don’t have the patience for people who unnecessarily put the lives of their children and others in danger.
And yes, I have and will sever friendships and other ties over vaccinations.
With all due respect, I don’t think your method will bring them to your side either. They are pretty resistant to the facts. Obviously, if you want to retain the friendship, you wouldn’t call them names regardless of the subject matter disagreement.
I believe that mothers and fathers who refuse all vaccines are negligent. There are a few vaccines I could imagine one feeling troubled by and perhaps hesitant to embrace completely, but believing that ALL vaccines are dangerous, and refusing to look at the science and statistics regarding child mortality before the advent of vaccines shows a remarkable lack of common sense. I’ll just leave it at that.
Both of my sons got the vaccine while they were either in high school or early college. As far as I know, I am the only one of my friends with sons who made them get the vaccine. A lot of parents think it is only for girls, and not for boys. I think a lot of doctors do not even bring it up with their patients. I am in the health field and so I knew about it. It helps to prevent oral cancer, anal cancer, mouth cancer and penile cancer. I wish the vaccine was around when I was young. Trust me, get your sons and daughters this vaccine. It will save lives.
And because of the way vaccines work, none of them are 100% effective. You can feel safe about your vaccinated children, but they are less safe when they play with unvaccinated children! They (the unvaccinated) are creating a space for epidemics to happen and it is wise to far away from that, if you can.