Comments on: Never discuss politics, religion or – Gardasil – at a dinner party

By: Australian report: Gardasil vaccine safe for teen girls

Australian report: Gardasil vaccine safe for teen girls — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 14:18:29 +0000

[...] controversial new vaccine to prevent infection of human papillomavirus, Gardasil (Never discuss politics, religion or – Gardasil – at a dinner party) has gotten both good and bad press. Now, an Australian report has weighed in on the positive [...]

By: Heather Cook

Heather Cook — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:44:04 +0000

What I find MOST humorous about the vaccine is the commercials. Smart looking, engaging women staring into the camera, “I’m doing all I can to prevent HPV…” and all I can think is. “Yeah, except the one thing that is 100% effective, NOT having sex.” Perhaps I was just raised differently but I believe in sex education as well as empowering young women by telling them that they can NOT have sex and still be normal. In fact, it is 100% effective against preventing STDs. I just can’t look someone in the eye and say “I’m doing all I can to prevent this” unless I actually AM doing all I can to prevent it by not taking the risk at all.

By: Michelle Smith

Michelle Smith — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:30:14 +0000

I have a 16-year-old daughter who is getting the shots right now. I have known quite a few women who have experienced cervical cancer. I decided to do what I could to try to protect my daughter from it. I realize that it’s not 100% sure, but I feel that the benefits outweigh the risks, at this point. I have another daughter who will be turning 11 in a few months and I plan to get the gardasil for her, as well.

By: Sherlock

Sherlock — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:06:06 +0000

As the parents of a 15 yo girl, we have decided not to vaccinate against HPV virus. At this point there just isn’t enough history about the vaccine to warrant exposing my child to it. I do worry about the forcefulness the government seems to be pushing this with, and I think there are lots of intelligent ways to avoid being exposed. We may be taking a risk by not vaccinating her, but I honestly believe there is a risk giving it to her too!

By: Jennifer Margulis

Jennifer Margulis — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:10:41 +0000

I’m very skeptical of government promoted vaccines. I will teach my children about safe sex and condom use but I won’t submit them to government testing.

By: Tanya

Tanya — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:59:51 +0000

I too am on the fence.

What will be the long term effects? I know in Nova Scotia, when the girls are in grade 7 (12/13 yrs old) they will be given the vaccine compliments of the government.

Do I allow it? Will my child/ren have some effects that have yet to be documented. I am a confused mom. I am also scared that if I agree, something will happen to my children. My daughters are 10 and 7 yrs old.

By: Lynda Hardwick

Lynda Hardwick — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:46:25 +0000

I am on the wait and see side as well. No one knows what will happen in 15 or 20 years. Will having this vaccination cause problems with conceiving? Will it lead to birth defects ? Perhaps our immune systems will be harmed further. Perhaps this virus will simply change faces and become even stronger.

By: Old Wife

Old Wife — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:40:19 +0000

I’ve already paid to have my adult daughter immunized (it was several hundreds of dollars since she’s out of the age group for free shots and none of our insurance covered it). She was already sexually active and could possibly already have been exposed, but I wanted to give her the best chance possible in being protected against the virus. I think some of the arguments against are pretty thin (girls will think they’re covered against all STDs–well, educate them!, girls won’t get Pap smears–educate them!, it only protects against 70% of cervical cancer…that’s way better than 0!). Various vaccines have been around for years and I can’t remember any that ended up being dangerous (that might be selective memory, though). Medications, yes. Vaccines…I really can’t remember one (other than the possible shedding of polio from oral vaccines, but this isn’t oral). I do think an awful lot of resistance to this vaccine is because it’s for an STD. I think a lot of parents think their girls won’t become sexually active, but they most likely will one day and who knows what viruses their partner will carry. And there’s always a risk (scarily high) that their daughters will be exposed to non-consentual sexual acts, too.

By: Diane Penna

Diane Penna — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:54:27 +0000

I am on the fence about this, but most likely I will not get my daughter vaccinated. To be honest, I didn’t even want to give her the new Chicken Pox vaccine.

Each time you get a vaccine or flu shot or injection of another drug, you’re also getting exposed to preservatives in the drug. I had a spinal block for back pain once, and later found out the drug they used had caused a disabling, painful, and incurable spinal cord disorder. You just never know what’s in the vaccines, and without long-term testing, there’s no way to know what the effects will be.