<p>^^Well, I'm a public health nurse and this has been bothering me ever since I heard about the vaccine. I'm also not quite certain about the effectivenes of the vaccine. I think it only is effective against a small percentage of HPV viruses... I have to look into this more.
Re: varicella! Interesting info about decreasing titers. How many years post-vaccine are your children?
(I had chicken pox at the age of 35. No vaccine at the time. The most I remember is sitting in an oatmeal bath and asking God to take me, certain that my H could find someone to love and take care of S and D. Lord knows, I was so covered with pox that I was sure he never wanted to sleep next to me again. Was I ever sick! Although I shudder to think how I would ever handle a life-threatening illness!)
Moral of story: VACCINATE!!</p>
<p>As far as the shot sequence for HPV--this is word of mouth--but my d. had a friend get into the situation where she had the first two shots at home, then was away at school. Her Dr. told her as long as she had the third shot within a year, it was fine. So, if anyone gets caught in that situation, they may want to ask.</p>
<p>I was told that the reason it (HPV vaccine) is not being pushed for males, at present anyway is that currently there is not an abundance of the vaccine and women are the ones who suffer dire consequences of the virus. Plus, I would bet it will be hard to get men in to receive it if they are not being faced with possible cancer.</p>
<p>To the medical professionals among us: My oldest had the menomune meningitis vaccine 4 years ago. At the time we were told it would last 3 - 4 years. The latest information I've read says it lasts 3 years. He is a college junior living in a dorm. Should he be revaccinated with Menactra?</p>
<p>Both of mine had the chicken pox at around age 3. The oldest had a severe case while I was pregnant. The youngest had a very mild case. I wonder if the youngest had some kind of immunity by being exposed to his brother through me in utero. (I had chicken pox as a child.)</p>
<p>* HPV is protecting from cervical cancer, I don't think it's given to men *</p>
<p>Its actually protecting against a virus- some types which cause warts- others that could progress to cancer- so we dont' exactly have a cancer vaccine yet.
<a href="http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/sexual_health/sti/hpv.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/sexual_health/sti/hpv.htm</a></p>
<p>On chicken pox...When I was an infant, I shared a room with my sister when she had the chicken pox, but I never got sick. I ended up getting the vaccine once it became available when I was about 12 because I had never contracted it, even though I must have been exposed to it since I went to full-day nursery school and preschool five days a week. I don't know if it would make a difference, but I was on long-term antibiotics. I was the only person my age I knew who had never gotten it, but since I had so many social activities, I can't see why I didn't.</p>
<p>HA HA. DS is a 6' 5" 260 lb FB player and wrestler. TOTAL BABY WHEN IT COMES TO GETTING SHOTS!! Tough, tough, strong ox....Will be practically in tears when he sits down to get his shots!!</p>
<p>I thought he would have outgrown this....He's outgrown virtually everything else. Not sure of the shots he needs, did a physical for track and I think they laid it out for him and the Mrs.</p>
<p>Needless to say, he has not yet made an appointment.</p>
<p>I haven't seen any data showing any benefit of giving the HPV vaccine to men. The ethics of vaccination generally require that the patient him/herself get a benefit or potential benefit from the vaccine.</p>
<p>Well, you would hope that not having genital warts would be a bit of a benefit, don't you think</p>
<p>over30- Yes, he should get Menactra. Better vaccine, immune response than the older. Mine got the older version before going to camp, and will get Menactra before going to college.</p>
<p>I very well could be wrong, but my understanding is that the HPV vaccine protects against 4 of the viruses associated with cervical cancer--not the HPV viruses that cause the warts.</p>
<p>Two viruses that the vaccine prevents are viruses that have been linked to cancer- two to warts
I have no idea how many they have identified that have been linked to either however- those do seem to be 4 of the main ones
Gardasil protects against 16 & 18 which cause 70% of cervical cancers
& 6 & 11, which cause 90% of genital warts ( according to FDA)</p>
<p>It does not protect against less common HPV types not included in vaccine so it is still very important for women to get Paps regularly</p>
<p>( isn't it interesting that in some ways- this administration has made strides * forward* for womens health, but in other ways it has taken giant leaps * backward* )</p>
<p>^^Emeraldkity is right. If males received the vaccine, I would think they would reduce their risk of passing on the 2 viruses that cause cervical cancer. However, if that is not enough of a reason, as an earlier poster suggests, they would also reduce their chance of contracting the other two types of genital warts.
<a href="http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/VIS/vis-hpv.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/VIS/vis-hpv.pdf</a></p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>Well, you would hope that not having genital warts would be a bit of a benefit, don't you think<<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>That would be a very nice benefit, but unfotunately no clinical trials of this vaccine have been completed in males, so we don't know whether it will prevent warts (or for that matter HPV-caused penile cancer) for them or not. Until those trials are completed and the FDA has approved it, it would be inappropriate to give the HPV vaccine to males.</p>
<p>Let's see, my kids got: MMR, Polio, Hep A, Hep B, meningitis, Japanese meningitis, yellow fever, typhus, typhoid, and my D got HPV. Some of those were for a trip to Africa, of course.</p>
<p>I just finished my freshman year. My school required all incoming freshmen to receive the meningitis vaccine as well as hepatitis A and suggested (enthusiastically) a tetanus booster.</p>
<p>I had received the meningitis vaccine (Menactra) the summer before my senior year, so I was covered for that. I have a severe allergy to the preservative/toxoid in the tetanus vaccine, so I wasn't able to get a booster. I received the DTaP vaccine instead, because my doctor thought the infant-sized dose would prevent me from having a bad reaction. Unfortunately, it didn't, and I now have a medical release from further tetanus shots. I did get the Hep A.</p>
<p>A flu shot might also be a good idea, since people in dorms practically live on top of one another.</p>
<p>But you can't get the flu shot until the fall, usually October-November time frame.</p>