<p>I have heard it’s pretty painful and there are some reports of fainting associated with the shot. Not sure if that’s due to the pain or something else though. Have not yet had to make this decision, so reading this thread is very helpful.</p>
<p>My son has had 2 of the 3 shots, will get the 3rd before he goes back to college after christmas break. He said it didn’t hurt.</p>
<p>What’s in a vaccine?
[What’s</a> in Vaccines, Vaccine, Vaccination](<a href=“http://www.detoxmychild.org/what’s_in_vaccines.htm]What’s”>http://www.detoxmychild.org/what’s_in_vaccines.htm)
[Vaccination</a> Liberation Information](<a href=“http://www.vaclib.org/basic/manu.htm]Vaccination”>Vaccination Liberation Information)</p>
<p>Just my opinion, of course.</p>
<p>Re: vaccination liberation information. This type of report is meant to be inflammatory. Wakefield admitted that his “research” linking autism to the MMR was falsified, yet so many people still accept his “link” as the truth. </p>
<p>When most people in a community/nation are immunized, disease can die out, but when it takes root, nonimmunized people are heavily at risk contracting the diease and passing it on. Parents in their 20s and 30s don’t remember stories of polio or diphtheria, diseases that were deadly or debilitating. Development of vaccines have helped to wipe them out, but younger people assume they are gone forever.</p>
<p>The HPV vaccine will hopefully reduce deaths from cervical cancer. Even protecting against 70% of cervical cancers makes it worthwhile. I can protect my sons and daughters from contracting HPV from a partner so I will have them immunized. Side effects are a sore arm; some girls report fainting, though I think this was related more to the age group (teens) than anything due to vaccine components.</p>
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“Inflammatory” is a nice way of putting it. “Pack of lies” is what I’d call it. Not to mention unpatriotic, irresponsible, and likely to lead to the deaths of innocent people. Just my informed opinion, of course.</p>
<p>hahaha. I like your informed opinion. It is a pack of lies, intended to get a rise out of people. Unfortunately, too many people use lies they read as justification for reinforcing their own uninformed opinions.</p>
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<p>It’s a momentary pain, short lived. Certainly far less painful than cervical cancer.</p>
<p>D1 says it was a little more painful than a normal shot, but only just a little bit. My total needle phobic D2 agreed. D2 faints when she has blood drawn. When she has been sick and in need of a blood draw (happened last summer when it seemed she might have mono), she gets one even though I know she will probably faint. We just lay her down for the blood draw and coach her to keep breathing. Turns out she did indeed have mono last summer. The blood test was important; her short lived discomfort was not. As needle reactive as D2 is, she did not faint upon receiving any of the HPV vaccines.</p>
<p>Whether or not a shot is painful or could result in fainting really doesn’t figure in to my decision to allow my kid to have an intervention (not saying it does for you, just responding to your comment). It’s the end result which I’m concerned with, and any vaccine which could protect my child from cancer is one I wanted to consider seriously.</p>
<p>Our pediatrician offered Gardasil several times for D, and even though I am very ready to accept the idea of innoculating my child against a known threat, this one smelled of Big Pharma (especially when I read that Merck had lobbied for Gardasil to be mandatory in certain states). I don’t like mandatory. </p>
<p>So I asked my brother (a physician with a similar age daughter) and at the time, he said he hadn’t read enough about the potential side effects, so he was holding off. So that was my answer – if my brother wasn’t jumping to do it, I could wait too.</p>
<p>In the meantime, all D’s friends were getting it done and D vehemently told me: “don’t make me do it. It’s like 3 shots and it really hurts.” This from a child who faints at the sight of a needle, and last time she got a routine immunization, she had this wierd fainting/seizure type thing which my brother called a vaso-vagal response (i.e., not a siezure) although it looked like one.</p>
<p>And yet-- the backstory is – my husband (who never smoked heavily and/or drank heavily) was diagnosed with Stage IV head and neck cancer in '96. Which was probably realistically more likely to be HPV-related (he is 11 years older than me and has had a bazillion more partners) but no one at Sloane Kettering ever brought that up as a possibility – maybe it wasn’t known back in '96 to cause head and neck cancer.</p>
<p>So yes I am considering encouraging D to get it (even though she may already be sexually active). And I will look into it for S. Why? Because cancer is such a terrible disease. And if this helps avoid it, I’m all for it.</p>
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<p>The cynic in me smells the exact same rat. The execs at Merck must be pooping their pants in excitement over the astronomical profits they would realize with the mandate that every child in America must receive their HPV vaccine. But, it better be safe—and I do mean safe to the degree, that ten or more years down the road, we are not seeing some horrible backlash manifesting itself as a result of this vaccine. We cannot afford to get it wrong when every child in America (and probably, most of the Western world) will have been given it. Perhaps I’m being paranoid, but what percentage of women with HPV actually go on to get cervical cancer? How long has HPV been extant in the human population–centuries? Why is this only now such a human health crisis as to require such widespread vaccination? This is not measles, or flu, or rhubella. I don’t get it.</p>
<p>“Whether or not a shot is painful or could result in fainting really doesn’t figure in to my decision to allow my kid to have an intervention (not saying it does for you, just responding to your comment). It’s the end result which I’m concerned with, and any vaccine which could protect my child from cancer is one I wanted to consider seriously.”</p>
<p>But this is a thread titled MALES. How many males no longer living at home, are stepping up for this? Frankly, I wonder why they do. Do the right thing? Okay.</p>
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<p>“Do the right thing?” How are you getting this from my post?</p>
<p>First of all, if I had a son, my thoughts on whether or not a vaccine is painful or could cause fainting (the post to which I replied) would be no different. </p>
<p>Secondly, this vaccine is recommended for young boys and girls primarily and then secondarily for older young adults who have not had it yet or have not been exposed to the virus. Why do they “step up” for it? Well, how about to protect themselves from contracting a STD? Or to the women (or men) they love (or will love) who could could contract it from them through intercourse or oral sex? What do you mean by this? Are you saying this is a woman’s responsibility only? Really?</p>
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<p>No vaccine is 100% safe.</p>
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<p>I believe that this is a recent understanding of the possible link between HPV and head and neck cancer.</p>
<p>Most “mandatory” vaccines are not actually mandatory. You can get out of them pretty easily if you assert that there is a contraindication for it from a health perspective or if you have a religious objection.</p>
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<p>I believe that this is a recent understanding of the possible link between HPV and head and neck cancer.</p>
<p>But this is a thread titled MALES. How many males no longer living at home, are stepping up for this? Frankly, I wonder why they do. Do the right thing? Okay.
“Do the right thing?” How are you getting this from my post"
Sorry…I was not getting it from YOUR post.</p>
<p>I just was noting that you mentioned your daughter, as did several others. </p>
<p>Why do they “step up” for it? Well, how about to protect themselves from contracting a STD? Or to the women (or men) they love (or will love) who could could contract it from them through intercourse or oral sex? What do you mean by this? Are you saying this is a woman’s responsibility only? Really?</p>
<p>No, but I am a middle aged woman, with a daughter and a son. And they both got it. But I am wondering about the average teenage guy, and from what I know, it would be unusual for them to be thinking about the women they will love. I wonder if there is evidence being presented to them that says it will prevent cancer in men. That was not presented to my son. </p>
<p>I suspect young men living at home will do it along with their other immunizations, but if guys in college are doing it because it is the right thing to do, because they are being responsible, I would be thrilled. Pleasantly surprised, and thrilled. </p>
<p>No I am not.</p>
<p>Ignore " no I’m not". I can’t seem to edit long posts on my iPad.</p>
<p>I certainly agree that people are more likely to get a vaccination that protects themselves as opposed to somebody else–this one does both.</p>
<p>I’m sure Merck is delighted to be making money off of this. But plenty of health professionals and oncologists, who will lose money if there are fewer cancer patients, are advising people to get the vaccine.</p>
<p>I made sure my son, age 17 got it. His last shot is in June, just before graduation. CDC now recommends it for males. They had hoped a lot of females would get it, and theoretically the males would therefore be protected, but this did not happen. Its a protection that is available and I made sure DS got it. Had to convince local clinic who said its “only for girls” :)</p>
<p>Once I read this thread and did a little research I spoke with my 23 year old by Skype in Taipei. He was not aware this was available. </p>
<p>He said that he’d look into to it. I offered to cover any out of pocket cost to him for the shots.</p>
<p>I think that single males will take the shots if they know about it and uderstand what is at issue for them and/or their partners (casual and long term).</p>