Gardasil: has your daughter had this vaccine?

[Morgan314]

My daughters' pediatrician is encouraging all female patients to receive this vaccine. I have mixed feelings about this. I do not want my girls to get cervical cancer from HPV, but in 15 yrs from now, what if we find out that there are long-term problems associated with the vaccine? Why are males not targeted for this vaccine? I am interested in hearing from nurse/mothers who have or have not gotten their daughters vaccinated and why.

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

After much debate; the vaccine will NOT be mandatory.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-05-08-cervical-cancer-shot_N.htm

[sailgurlie]

I had to write in to share my story... I have been a peds nurse for over 20 years and am pro-vaccine but don't think this vaccine should be mandatory OR even promoted as strongly as it has until it has more of a track record. One of my long time friends lost her daughter to a massive clot 14 days after receiving the first dose of Gardasil. It has not been proven to be the "cause of death" but this 19 y.o. college freshman was very healthy! In fact, was heading out for a run when she collapsed at her dorm! There have been at LEAST 11 deaths so far that are related to this vaccine AND over 3000 side effects reported. You only hear about the sore arm and rash... Please just be well informed and maybe wait until more testing is forced. I don't want anyone else to go through what my friend and her family have if it is avoidable! Thanks!

[queenjean]

We've recently seen several girls who collapsed within 24 hours of receiving the vaccine (most within 2-8 hours). One has still not completely recovered, the other couple recovered within hours. A daughter of a friend told her mother it was the most painful thing she'd ever experience, and the pain was so intense it made her feel cold and faint. My friend said she witnessed her daughter go pale and become diaphoretic. The pain lasted over 24 hours, though the intensity wore off after a couple of hours. The doc attributed it to the fact that she is a 14 year old girl and was being "dramatic." My friend makes her daughter (who has asthma) receive a flu shot every year, and she recently had her boosters for middle school, and did not have this sort of reaction.

With my children, I will be waiting and watching. I am not opposed to it, but I do not yet feel secure enough with it to have my own daughters receive it.

[sailgurlie]

Thanks for your post... 14-15 yo girls DO tend to be dramatic, but I think this bears watching! Please pass this information on as it is not being discussed.

[lpnstudentin2010, LPN]

I have told each of my DD's boyfriends to their faces, "If I ever find out you had sex with my daughter without a condom, I will staple one to your weinie."

nice tazzi very nice

[bknyrn]

I am all for giving vaccines to my children. I even looked up on Gardasil when my daughters doctor suggested she have it. We all want to protect our children and after looking into the vaccine, my daughter was given the first shot. Afterwards, I started reading about all of the negative effects: the fainting, clots, paralysis, DEATHS!!. Also, I read it may only be effective for 4 years, they arent exactly sure. Right now, I am scared to continue with the injections because of this. As I want her to be safe and healthy, I also dont want to subject her to the possible adverse effects of this vaccine.

[80sNurse]

I have 3 sons & would like to have them have the vaccine, but not (yet??) covered by insurance. Hopefully it will be before they become sexually active. Hope ID & Peds organizations embrace guys getting vaccine for good of innoculating overall population (for those who choose to do so, of course), then maybe insurance will cover...

[beachbum3]

My daughter is 10 and she has had it. I think anything I can do to protect her health is a good thing, whether it benefits her now, or in 20 years.

[twinmommy+2, ADN, BSN, MSN]

Good point. I hadn't thought of it from that angle.

Good point. My husband said that he didn't want our girls (who are 7, 6, 6) to get this vaccine cause it promotes promiscuity. I told him we can raise them as well as we can, instill all the right morals, and they could even listen to us. Even if they wait until they are married to have sex, who knows if the guy they married was abstonate his whole life?

Needless to say the girls will be getting their vaccine when they are old enough.

[Jolie, BSN]

I have reservations about this vaccine, and have decided to wait for more data before getting it for my 10 and 13 year old daughters.

But that it "promotes promiscuity" is certainly not one of them. I seriously doubt that any young girl or woman says to herself, "Oh good, now I can go have sex because I won't get HPV!" Nor do I believe that in the invulnerable mindset of teens, any young girl would avoid having sex for fear of HPV. If fear of pregnancy and potentially fatal STDs doesn't deter her, the possibility of cervical cancer sometime down the road certainly won't either.

[DA314]

I don't have children but I would hestitate to recommend this vaccine for anyone. Anything that sounds like a miracle drug usually isn't (phen-phen anyone?)

As far as preventing cervical cancer, it only prevents certain strains of HPV that may cause cervical cancer.

At the law firm I work at, we have a client who had horrible complications after the first injection and had to have surgery.

A better way to prevent HPV spread is to encourage condom use and a little self control. Teach young girls not to do every guy they are interested in. Teach them that sex is better in a healthy loving relationship. Also teach them that, while condoms aren't 100% effective, they are better than using nothing.

I know these measures won't 100% prevent the spread of HPV, but it will help alot.

Also, I think it is wrong to force young girls to get this vaccine. It's too new to understand the consequences.

[80sNurse]

Maybe I'm not keeping all my childhood vaccinations straight, but aren't our kids ALREADY routinely vaccinated vs. one of the Hepatitis strains that is (primarily?) sexually transmitted? (any outpatient peds nurses out there?)

When my 17-year-old was a toddler this was new, and I remember thinking how strange it was to be giving vaccine to a young child to protect him from a possible future sexual partner-acquired disease. I'm sure this vacc won't even cross his mind whenever he becomes sexually active (but hopefully condoms more than cross his mind...)

:typing