Cervical cancer vaccine
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Cervical cancer vaccine
| Tue, 08-22-2006 - 4:48pm |
Are any of you ladies thinking of getting your daughters the vaccine? It has just be approved here. I am looking into finding more information about it before I talk to DD about it.
I have to admit, I am finding the suggested "age to be vaccinated" rather strange. Well, not really but more the assumption that if the girl is over 13, she is sexually active. I know more than a few girls who are not at 18.

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Deb
Here is the link to the CDC website with info about the vaccine. Notice that the vaccine is given in a series of 3 shots over a 6 month period so ideally the girl should complete the entire series before she becomes sexually active.
http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/STDFact-HPV-vaccine.htm#hpvvac2
I asked about this at my DD's ped, and they said they're only ordering enough for people who specifically request it AND we have to pay for it upfront ($450) because it's not clear if insurance will cover it. I passed for right now because she's not sexual yet, but it bugs me that the ped office was not more active in promoting this. Also, they said that since it's not required and the Amer Acad of Ped hasn't come out on this yet, the insurance thing may be far off in the future.
Anyone else have questions about insurance coverage and/or cost?
Sue
Hep B is NOT "generally a sexually transmitted disease"!!!!!!! I am a health care worker--dental hygienist--and Hep B is transmitted thru ANY BODILY FLUID that contains blood. Blood, SALIVA, semen, and vaginal fluids (including menstrual blood), whether fresh or dried, are highly contagious (HBV can be easily spread) during the incubation period and for several weeks after the onset of symptoms. Altho blood contains the highest quantities of the hepatitis B virus, other body fluids that contain the virus can remain contagious for at least a week and possibly much longer, even if they are dried. IT is also resistant to many topical disinfectants, including alcohol. Hep B is WAY more contagious, & resistant to disinfection, than the AIDS virus! AIDS dies in the air. So blood on the sissors at the hairdresser, blood on the toenail clippers at the pedicurist, blood in the saliva from bleeding gums on the teaspoon that you share with the kid in the cafeteria, is CONTAGIOUS. THAT is the reason the vaccine is being given to everyone now, and not just healthcare workers.
PPS: Scientists estimate that AT LEAST 97% of cervical cancer is caused by HPV(the rest is random radiation mutation). HPV is also spread thru contact with virus in the birth canal, and because the virus can be spread even if it is dormant, and because the virus can remain viable for AT LEAST 10 years after infection, and because the infection is silent in men AS WELL as many women, EVERY FEMALE who has ever had a class 2 pap has the virus. Where she got it from is moot. So, if YOU MOM, had a class 2 pap at any point in your life before you had children, chances are you infected your children as they passed thru the birth canal--male AND female. Since the cervical cancer vaccine is only effective BEFORE the virus activates, the rational thing is to give it to every female before they enter puberty. This is NOT a discussion about whether or not your child is sexually active. This is a discussion about whether or not your child will die, or pass this plague on to the next generation. I HAD a niece, who died at 13, from cervical cancer.
"Hep B is NOT "generally a sexually transmitted disease"!!!!!!! I am a health care worker--dental hygienist--and Hep B is transmitted thru ANY BODILY FLUID that contains blood. Blood, SALIVA, semen, and vaginal fluids (including menstrual blood), whether fresh or dried, are highly contagious (HBV can be easily spread) during the incubation period and for several weeks after the onset of symptoms."
It is MOSTLY transmitted by sexual contact; not by blood transfusions etc like the heyday of HIV. I am surprised how many people think Hep B is the same as food borne hepatitis (Hep A)
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