Both my sister and my youngest sil have gotten it. I have mixed emotions about it. I was very dissapointed with the lack of education that is given with the shot. Neither of them had a clue what it actually protected and were thinking it would prevent much more, I just hope those were the only two that feel through the cracks or else, I fear, our std rates will go through the roof in the coming years.

I personally, will not be getting the shot.

.i am not eligible, but would have if .i was! .i think it is a great idea to get it considering how common hpv is.

Here's my 2 cents:

I think the public has been very misled by the company marketing this vaccine about its effectiveness, and what it actually protects against. It does not protect women against the most common strains of HPV-the ones that don't cause cancer. Very few strains of HPV infection have actually been shown to cause cervical cancer, and not everyone infected with these strains will develop cancer as a result. However, the drug company has gone forward pursing public policy to have their snake oil become a required vaccine for all girls age 12 ond over. I find this incomprehensively irresponsible, but I am not surprised that many politicians and physicians have jumped on the bandwagon. I thinki t's great that the vaccine can prevent what it does, but I do not believe it is the miracle drug which it has been heralded to be inthe media.

Furthermore, I would hate to see this type of thing replacing the funding that should be going toward sex education for children instead.

It's too bad they weren't properly educated before getting the vaccine. My doctor gave me an informational handout beforehand to read, but .I think it would be great if doctors made sure patients understand by verbalizing what the vaccine protects against and what it does not. For anyone who's interested, the handout says there are more than 100 types of Hpv, and .Gardasil helps protect against 4 types that "cause approximately 70% of cervical cancers and 90% of genital warts."

Thanks for your replies!



As I stated before, .Gardasil helps protect against 4 of the most common strains of HPV that cause the highest percentage of cervical cancer and genital warts. You're right that many types of HPV do not cause cancer, and some don't cause any harm. For most people, HPV goes away on its own. However, the vaccine is a good preventative measure for the most common strains that can lead to problems.

When any vaccine is introduced, there is media scrutiny, both positive and negative. Above all, the media's job is to inform the public, not sensationalize. What articles have you seen that made you feel this way?

Anyone thinking about getting the vaccine should be informed about it. There is no excuse for ignorance with the abundance of information available.

The articles I have been reading about it are from a few of the publications that we receive here in the office. I work for a board certified family practice physician and osteopath. I think it was called AAFP (american academy of family practice physicians) Update or something like that. I read them cover to cover.

so hpv is sexually transmitted? I've had pap smears on a regular basis and they've always come out fine. if i'm in a monogamous relationship now and don't plan on being with anyone else, i guess this isn't anything i should worry about for myself? like, if i was gonna get it before i met my fiancee i would have it already?

Anyone who engages in genital contact with another person is at risk. With men especially, HPV can be symptom-less. My doctor said the pap usually picks it up if HPV is present. If your pap is always normal, I wouldn't worry about it. Mine are always normal but up until recently, I was single and not monogamous.

.i have only been with one person and he has not been with a lot of people and .i have high risk hpv. .anyone can get it and since men never show signs of high risk it is even easier for them to pass it to their partners. .even if a man is tested and clean he can have it because their is no test for hpv in men.

Wow! I can't believe, even with the most recent media campaigns about cervical cancer and hpv, that people still aren't aware.

Anyone who has had sex can have hpv. Anyone! And, don't be fooled, a pap smear does not detect hpv. O.N.L.Y an hpv test detects hpv.

You can have hpv in your system and it can cause no problems. Or, if you have a high risk strain, you may get cervical abnormalilties that can lead to cervical cancer if untreated.

Pap smears were invented to protect women from dying from cervical cancer. Pap smears do not detect sexually transmitted diseases. They only test for cervical abnormalites. You have to tell your doctor if you think you may have a sexually transmitted disease before he tests you for that specifically. Most (not all) doctors don't routinely test for them.

It is true, there are over 100 strains of hpv. The 'lesser' strains cause genital warts. The high risk strains cause cervical abnormalities that can lead to cervical cancer if not treated. This is why it is important to get pap smears.

Hpv can stay in your system and go virtually undetected for 10 years. There is no hpv test for men and they are obviously the carriers, taking it from woman to woman without knowing they are doing it since they have no symptoms.

I'm sorry i don't know more about it. i have seen a couple of commercials on it and a couple of news reports but they don't exactly go into detail. most of what i've heard has been targeted at giving the vaccine to young girls before they become sexually active. what i'm wondering is, if my partner has it, wouldn't i already have gotten it from him? i have had a battery of std tests done before and after i became pregnant, not because i was high risk, but because i was trying to be a responsible person. I haven't ever had any std's and, like i said, all of my pap smears have been normal. i assume the vaccine wouldn't be something i should get while i'm pregnant anyway (?). I'm not trying to offend anyone with my ignorance, i just hadn't considered this for myself before and now i am questioning that. i guess i can ask my doctor about it next time i go.

HPV is a virus.....just like the flu virus... If you have it, you will always have it and it will never "go away" just lay dormant. I don't think that the shot shoud be required to be taken. That is a violation of one's rights. (****Edit****
I was only making a blank statement due to the fact that there had been talk of making the shot manditory. Sorry, I should have stated that in the original post. ***Edit***)Should we start making everyone get a flu vacination just because it can prevent only a few of the flu viruses that are out there, not even looking at the worst kind...the bird flu!

I would be curious as to how many people that have had the gardasil shot that would also get the flu vacination yearly?

Also, HPV is not always picked up by a routine pap. It is only when it is active that your pap will come back with abnormal cells. Ususally when this happens the doctor will do a colposcomy to find out why they came back abnormal.

I had an abnormal pap when I was 19 and again at 21. The doctor did a colposcomy on me both times. This was 10 years ago, so they didn't know about the HPV virus, or at least they didn't know enough about it at the time. After the colpo, I went to get another pap 3 months later and everything was fine. So after that, I have had normal paps ever since until this past February when it came back abnormal. They did the colposcomy and it came back positive for HPV. Now that they know much more about the virus, they can treat it better than they used to. My doctor told me that if my husband and I used protection for a certain period of time, that the HPV would go back to being dormant and we shouldn't have a problem with it. Just like if you and your husband have the flu and if you keep kissing each other, obviously you are going to continue to pass it back and forth. But if you don't, then you will eventually get better and not continue to spread it.

Sorry for the long rant... I have never taken the flu shot, and I don't plan on it. I feel the same way with the gardisil shot. If you teach young girls how to properly protect themselves, they will have a better understanding and be less likely to contract the virus.

*** Just wanted to add that I remember my doctor telling me that no there isn't a test for hpv for men, and no they usually don't have any symptoms (except I think they can show some with warts...not sure though) and they are the carrier, but she said that one characteristic of the virus in men is a tendency to male baldness... No I am not saying that all bald men have HPV... It may be a coincidence... It's just what my doc said***

.actually the hpv virus is unique in the fact that your body can get rid of it completely. .many doctors do not know why this is but it can and has happened in many people

Just a quick question for you-

Let's say you had an active case and had the warts associated with hpv treated. If it is dormant, can you still infect another person? Just curious because I don't know the answer.

.h.p.v can lie dormant in your system for years before you get an abnormal pap smear (not saying it *will* lie dormant for years, just that it can). they won't give the vaccine to women who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant. also, i believe it's a series of 3 vaccines that need to be given over a 6 month period. they also will only do it up to a certain age - don't quote me, but i think up to age 26 or somewhere close to that.

Ya know, I really don't know without going and looking it up. This is just my theory based on how my doctor has explained it to me. I would think that if you are treated for HPV weather you have the warts or not and you get a clean pap then I wouldn't think that you would be able to transmit it. But I could be wrong, because the way people have talked about anyone who has had sex could have it. That to me says that you could be transmitting it without knowing that you have done so. On the other hand, I keep going back to the flu virus only b/c my doctor did. If you do not have the active flu virus and have no symptoms, are you transmitting the virus when you kiss someone who has had the flu at one point in their life?

Does that make sence? It seems to make sence in my head, because of the way it has been explained to me, so now I just think of the flu virus because they are both viruses!!!

I don't understand how your body can get rid of a virus. They are not able to cure any other viruses, they just treat them until the symptoms go away. Just like if you have the flu for a week, then the next week you have absolutely no symptoms. You are not cured, you have recovered from the symptoms and the virus then lays dormant in your body.

I'm moving this to women's sexual health cause I think it will be informative there.

That's what i thought too, but then i started thinking about HIV which you can infect others with even if you don't have signs or an active case.