So let me get this straight...

[BVS]

In the case of HPV, the potential for cancer does not seem great enough to warrant me to go to have a new vaccine which no one knows the long-term effects of yet. If the risk for cancer was much greater, I'd definitely weigh the risks and possibly consider the vaccine, but right now, due to the nature of HPV and the low potential for cervical cancer, to me it's more of a risk to actually take the vaccine.

And me I'd avoid cancer at all costs, if the common cold could lead to cancer, I'd get a vaccine.

But that's just me

 

[dazzlingamy]

Well everything in life carries a risk doesn't it? We get into cars everyday, walk the streets, eat food that could potentially kill us, do things every day where we could die but for the majority we walk the line and we live to fight another day.
Most vaccines/operations etc come with risk. A family friend went in for a routine gall bladder operation and almost died staying in a coma for over 2 weeks and finally four months after the operation left the hospital. However another family friend went in for her gall bladder operation just the othher week and is out and fine even though she knew about our other friend. She just knew the risks were low, like Gardasil.

I got the injection and I was fine. All three times months apart and nothing bad happened except the 3rd needle hurt like a bitch! 10 friends got it as well, and so far no reactions. Sure some people died but perhaps there was more too it then just the gardasil, or maybe the were allergic to something in it. Like someone said we don't come out of the womb knowing what we're allergic too until it all goes pear shaped.

At the end of the day we have to take the risk and so far the risk of Gardasil reactions is so so so low. I'd rather know i'm never going to get cervical cancer because of it.

 

[Devlin]

The problem I have with this vaccine is this: out of all the eleventy billion types of HPV out there, there's an infinitesimal number that will cause cancer. Now, I'm all for safety, but am I really, seriously supposed to worry that I might, maybe, get that particular virus?

Really?

No. I'm not going to. I'm fine with having a regular pap smear.

There are times when one just doesn't need to be quite so phobic.

 

[anitram]

The problem I have with this vaccine is this: out of all the eleventy billion types of HPV out there, there's an infinitesimal number that will cause cancer. Now, I'm all for safety, but am I really, seriously supposed to worry that I might, maybe, get that particular virus?

Really?

No. I'm not going to. I'm fine with having a regular pap smear.

There are times when one just doesn't need to be quite so phobic.

There are not eleventy bilion types of HPV, I believe the number is something like 150. Two of which are responsible for 70% of all cervical cancers.

That's your judgment call to make. I like my odds with Gardasil better. Particularly in light of the terrible 'science' about the scary death effects of the vaccine.

 

[Devlin]

'Eleventy billion' is not a literal number in this case, anitram. Exaggeration, my friend.

See, to me, worrying about whether I might, maybe, contract one of the two viruses that might give me cancer is silly. The odds are fairly low; I'm actually celibate and have been for awhile. Of course, I could already have HPV. I could possibly already have one of the cancer making ones, in which case a vaccine isn't likely to do me any good.

The fact is, looking at my family history, I'm likelier to die of another kind of cancer. The same one that killed my grandmother, her mother, and at least one of her aunts. cancer of the digestive tract. I'm slightly more worried about that. Or the family history of depression. My mother and both my uncles have that. Yes. These are things that worry me.

The possibility of getting cancer of the uterus does not worry me at all.

Considering the fact that I don't like my uterus and wish it gone, the damn thing's lucky I'll get a pap smear on it. And that's only because I'm hoping they'll find something which will require its removal (this, too is a joke. I don't really want a serious illness), posthaste.

But hey, to each her own -- you like the vaccine. I don't.

It should never be required that all girls get this. At some point, we have to allow for individual will.

This one just depends on too many what ifs for me. I might get it, I might not. But I'm supposed to get a vaccine for it anyway?

I think not.

 

[PhilsFan]

Yeah, a lot of people don't die from cancer, so why would I take preventative measures to decrease my chances further? That would just be silly.

 

[UberBeaver]

There are not eleventy bilion types of HPV, I believe the number is something like 150.

150 that we KNOW about. There totally could be another tenty billion, nine-hundred ninetly-ninety million, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, eight hundred and fifty types out there. You don't know that there aren't. Not everything is so black and white.

I'm of the opinion that if the disease isn't contagious, and you don't want the vaccine, that's your prerogative. I don't think anyone should ever be forced to get something they don't want injected into them.

 

[BVS]

I'm of the opinion that if the disease isn't contagious, and you don't want the vaccine, that's your prerogative. I don't think anyone should ever be forced to get something they don't want injected into them.

Are you saying you don't think HPV is contagious?

 

[deep]

not like polio or measles

 

[corianderstem]

Yeah, I think he was making the distinction about the decision not to vaccinate for HPV, versus not vaccinating for measles and the possibility of becoming a walking health hazard.

 

[BVS]

True, I guess one can say if they are celibate or both parties have only been with one person then they are not at risk.

So that would be how much of the adult population?

 

[deep]

Yeah, I think he was making the distinction about the decision not to vaccinate for HPV, versus not vaccinating for measles and the possibility of becoming a walking health hazard.

a walking hazard vs a laying hazard

I don't do as much walking as I used to.

 

[Irvine511]

I don't think anyone should ever be forced to get something they don't want injected into them.

and yet, we joyfully mutilate an infant's penis every day.

 

[UberBeaver]

Are you saying you don't think HPV is contagious?

They were talking about cancer in the posts above me, which is, as far as I know, not contagious. I don't know anything about HPV. The point I was trying to make was that if you're not putting others at risk, you should not have to get an injection.

and yet, we joyfully mutilate an infant's penis every day.

I, for one, don't mind what my parents had done to me.

 

[Devlin]

Irvine: Yes. Because it's 'for their own good'. The same excuse they're using to try and force the HPV vaccine to be mandatory. Hysteria will do that for you.

PhilsFan: Who said you couldn't take the vaccine? Really, if you want to, go on and do it. I don't want to. I don't believe it should be mandatory. It should be optional. If a woman or girl does not want it, she should not be forced to have it. HPV is not polio. It is not smallpox. Sure, it might possibly, if you catch the right strain, give you cancer, but it's not going to give the five people sitting next to you cancer as well. I'm not downplaying cancer in the slightest -- especially because I had a grandmother die of cancer --, but it isn't the same thing, not at all. We need to keep the hysteria to a minimum.

 

[Irvine511]

I, for one, don't mind what my parents had done to me.

would you know any better?

i, for one, am still mourning my loss. i never got to know it.

 

[BVS]

They were talking about cancer in the posts above me, which is, as far as I know, not contagious. I don't know anything about HPV. The point I was trying to make was that if you're not putting others at risk, you should not have to get an injection.

Um, HPV is contagious and some strains lead to cancer

 

[UberBeaver]

Um, HPV is contagious and some strains lead to cancer

I was not talking about HPV specifically when I made my post.

 

[yolland]

CNN, Oct. 25

A federal government advisory committee voted Tuesday to recommend that boys and young men, from ages 11 to 21, be vaccinated against the human papilloma virus, commonly referred to as HPV. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices says the vaccine series can be started as early as age 9.

...Although the vaccine has been approved for males since 2009, it hasn't been as heavily promoted for them. One reason for the push now is that girls aren't getting vaccinated in the numbers doctors expected. "If the boys are also immunized, it reduces the transmission back and forth," said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the Department of Preventative Medicine at Vanderbilt University, who attended the CDC meeting as an adviser but not a voting member. By receiving the vaccine, boys will also be protected against cancers of the penis and rectum. Also, there is growing evidence of HPV causing the recent increase in head and neck cancer. A study released earlier this month found approximately 70% of all oropharyngeal cancers are caused by HPV infection. The HPV vaccine protects against both, according to Schaffner. Earlier this year, the American Academy of Pediatrics began including the HPV vaccine on its list of recommended vaccines for boys.

The HPV vaccine became a political hot potato when Republican presidential contender Michele Bachmann was critical of fellow Republican contender and Texas Gov. Rick Perry's support of the vaccine for girls. In 2007, he signed an executive order that required Texas schoolgirls to receive vaccinations against HPV, although it wasn't implemented.

In a now-long-archived thread about this years back, someone predicted attitudes towards the vaccine would change dramatically once it was recommended for boys...guess we're about to find out.

 

[deep]

a quick glance at this

I hope this vaccine takes hold now for young males,
perhaps decent folks can agree that in the event their virtuous daughter gets raped, it would be even a little more tragic if she also got cervical cancer.

 

[Irvine511]

but fear mongering is all we have to regulate the teenage sexual behavior of sportos/motorheads/geeks/sluts/bloods/wasteoids/dweebies/dickheads, etc.

if we lose that, then are they going to walk around thinking that pleasure is good, shame is bad, and knowledge is both power and freedom?

 

[PhilsFan]

I had a very good health teacher when I was 16, as did my entire school. He taught us about alcohol, drugs, sex, and diseases you can get from those things. Obviously many of us knew about those things before we got to 10th grade, but it was still good to have him filling in the blanks of our understanding. My high school was better for having him around.

I had a graduating class of 400. Not one of us was involved in a pregnancy.

 

[deep]

I had a graduating class of 400. Not one of us was involved in a pregnancy.

this is a joke?

right?

 

[PhilsFan]

No one from my graduating class got pregnant (females) or got someone pregnant (males). If there were abortions, I knew nothing of them, but really, we just knew about condoms and all of that pretty damn early on.

 

[deep]

it is not possible for you to say if any of the sperm from those 200 boys led to conception

and as you said any of the girls could have been pregnant and had abortions
all you can say is that you don't recall any of the girls showing or giving birth

knowing about condoms does not stop people from getting pregnant

 

[Irvine511]

I had a graduating class of 400. Not one of us was involved in a pregnancy.

so you're saying that, like most high schools, roughly 50% had had sex by the time of graduation, and yet there were no instances of unwanted pregnancies?

it sounds like people were making good decisions about sex and taking responsibility for their choices, rather than being punished for making ignorant choices and letting their lives be run by fear.

for shame.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Obviously no one can say for sure that there were no instances of unwanted pregnancy.

And yes like deep said, knowing about condoms and being responsible is not a guarantee.

 

[yolland]

knowing about condoms does not stop people from getting pregnant

Not aimed at anyone in here, but this is one of my pet peeves, the glib and superficial type of pro-sex-ed argument that basically says the reproductive system is like a household appliance, we just need to make sure kids read the manual and 'information' will fix all. For certain issues such as STIs, basic lack of information truly is a major problem, but it's not a significant reason why kids get pregnant. The value of sex-ed lies much more in supportive socialization--conveying the message that discussing birth control with prospective sex partner(s) is normal and responsible and good, that boys are as accountable as girls for preventing unwanted pregancies, that both pregnancy and parenting are huge commitments and not to be taken for granted as something that just happens, that deciding on and setting your own boundaries is your responsibility and you will own the consequences, not your partners or your parents. It also really bothers me when people condemn the attitude that kids and especially girls who have sex are shameful and bad (a condemnation I agree with) but then turn around and unmistakably convey an attitude that kids and especially girls who have babies are shameful and bad. I grew up in a school district with one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country, so I really feel very strongly about this--people that assume 'these kids' are degenerate, prematurely sexualized hedonists who just need abstinence and 'family values' lectures have their heads in the sand and are full of shit, and so are people who assume they're clueless, I-hate-and-fear-my-body holy rollers who just need 'information' and reassurance that sexuality is good.

 

[yolland]

This is kind of entertaining

She May Look Clean--But...: The Seductive Villains of Early STD-Prevention Posters - Slate

They're from the 1940s; a few are in Cubist style, which seemed unexpected enough to strike me as funny.

 

[sue4u2]

conveying the message that discussing birth control with prospective sex partner(s) is normal and responsible and good, that boys are as accountable as girls for preventing unwanted pregancies, that both pregnancy and parenting are huge commitments and not to be taken for granted as something that just happens, that deciding on and setting your own boundaries is your responsibility and you will own the consequences, not your partners or your parents.
***
people that assume 'these kids' are degenerate, prematurely sexualized hedonists who just need abstinence and 'family values' lectures have their heads in the sand and are full of shit, and so are people who assume they're clueless, I-hate-and-fear-my-body holy rollers who just need 'information' and reassurance that sexuality is good.

Which doesn't even begin to explain (or maybe it does) why "ADULTS" have the same problem.
(but that's another thread entirely)