As it stands now, no, I don't think it's worth it. I don't like what I've heard about the clinical trials (the part the drug companies DON'T want people to know about). Not to mention the fact that the first "wave" of patients haven't had time to see if it works. What other side effects does it have, is it really safe, etc. I also want to know why it isn't approved for use in older women who test negative for HPV. That's a red flag for me.  

My soon to be 13yr old daughter, has an appointment at her Ped to get the shot(s).  I want her to have it, and avoid all that I went through with precancerous cervical dysplasia. 

Does anyone have any idea how much these vaccines cost? My daughter is 13 and I have wondered if she should have this, but I haven't seriously considered it. I know it a series of 3 shots, and I was just wondering if it's expensive or if insurance covers it.

In college, many women were encouraged to get it (although the insurance provided by school did not cover the cost), and we were told it would cost $450 for all 3 shots.

Have you ever looked at a PDR?  You would be afraid to take Tylenol after reading the side effects for that.  ASA wouldn't get approved in today's market, a drug that has saved many lives. 

This vaccine does protect against the most common causes of cervical dysplasia.  I'm still getting this vaccine for my daughter.  I'll report back, on this link, after each shot....she's scheduled to get it in about 5 weeks. 

BTW, I had viewed the website in question a while back...people post all kind of misinterpretations on this.  People were posting on the YAZ link there that their doctor prescribed that as a malaria preventative.  You have a lot of lay people, who post misinformation.  It's like when I take a nursing history, and the pt states I'm allergic to XYZ, and you say whats your reaction and the reply is nausea.  Nausea is not a true 'allergic reaction', it's an intolerance, that can be treated if the pt needs that particular med.  I'm rambling, my point is, I think it's a worthwhile vaccine.  We're free to decide this for our own. 

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/578110

There is some information on the subject. I keep trying to find the program I listened to on the subject. The doctor that presented the information was against this.

Kittyrn, you are absolutly right.  This IS for us to decide for our own.  And I have no problems with your decision as long as you have done your own research and made and informed decision.  What I do have a problem with is a government that mandates all school aged children have this shot, and the number of parents who will blindly go along with it without researching it first. It has only been tested for 4 years, less than 18 months on the children in the 9yr old range.  The long term effects are not known, including how many years it is effective,  whether or not the vaccine itself can cause cancer or sterility.  Yes, it is possible that the vaccine can prevent HPV infection in 2 of the strains that cause cancer and 2 of the strains that cause warts; however, the percentage of persons infected with those particular strains is only 3.4%.  There is no guarentee that the vaccine will work.  There is a 50% chance that you will still get cervical cancer even after the vaccine. 

Here is a seeminly unbiased website with 10 things you should know about gardisil.  Also included is information on another HPV vaccine which is set to be released this year, as well as information  on wether or not it should be administered to males.

10 things you might want to know about gardisil

10 more things you might want to know about gardisil

I respect your decision, kittyrn, I just want others to responsibly research and form their own opinions, and make their own decisions.

I was going to get this shot, but wasn't sure if I should or not.

Thats very interesting Broncl.  This is an exerpt from the report in the link above:

"Merck scientists not only did not bother to study cancer, they do not even know

whether their own vaccine is carcinogenic. In a report to the FDA on testing protocol,

Merck wrote that “Gardasil has not been evaluated for the potential to cause

carcinogenicity or genotoxicity.”25 One would think that any cancer vaccine that has

been approved by the FDA ought to at least not cause cancer. Given that Gardasil works

by causing spontaneous reactions and cell mutation, its potential to cause cancer is

certainly a matter that warrants further study."

You should send the link to your cousin, have her print it and take it to her doctor.  I hope her doctor also reported her case.

I had a 2 minute conversation at work, with one of the hospital OB/gyn 's.   He has a teenage daughter, who has already started the series.  No side effects yet for her, and obviously, he believes in it enough to vaccinate his own child.

Browncl.....thanks for your post.....I had an abnormal pap almost 3 years ago and my ob said i had cancer cells....and I still haven't gotten that taken care of....I have been scared to go, but postponing it will only be worse....I guess I better call the doctor.

I hope that this is evaluated correctly.  I would hate to see another product for women removed from the market because of excessive scare tactics and not proper evaluation.   IUD's were removed from the market, and those claims were unfounded.  There are a lot of people that have fought various vaccines in the past, and 'scared' a lot of people from having kids vaccinated.  The vaccine does not protect against, 100% of all types of cervical cancer, but is there any vaccine that gives 100% guarantee of prevention?  I have co-workers that have had to have repeated booster of the Hep B vaccine when titers have shown they have low levels.  Another Vaccine, that has high degree of side effects is the smallpox vaccine.    This vaccine was ultimately responsible for saving thousands of lives.  Because, the HPV vaccine, does not protect 100%  It does not eliminate the need for pap smears, and it does not protect against all variations of  it.  With this information, I still plan on vaccinating my daughter.  But we apparently are not doing our job as health care workers if we do not encourage continued pap smears.   Pap smears, BTW, are also not 100% effective in diagnosing abnormal cells.  A few years back,  there was a study that showed some labs and physicians had almost a 30% false NEGATIVE rate.  This meant that approximately 1 in 3 pts that had abnormal cells were getting CLEAN paps due to either physician error (improper swab technique) or lab error.   Additionally, I see warts are frequently mentioned after getting this inactivated vaccine.  Warts are most frequent in the teenage population in general.  Right now, in my household of 5 kids, I have 3 that have had warts.  Two of them in the teenage years, and two of the 3 are boys!   Additionally, I will be sure and post back after my daughter receives her vaccine.

I work for an OB/GYN and we have alot of our patients receiveing the HPV shot.   I know that some of our patients have had swelling on the site of the injection, muscle soreness, muscle fatigue.  I have only heard of one so far that had numbness in the arm, nausa, dizziness, and SOB.  I think it is worth while.  I am too old to receive the vaccine...but I would suggest it for my step-daughters when they are the appropriate age. 

I can certainly sympathize with what you have gone through, as I was diagnosed with cervical dysplasia when I was only 20.  I do not wish that upon anyone and do not want either of my girls to go through that experience.

That being said, I still think this vaccine has not been thouroughly tested.  It is true that there have been effective treatments removed from the market do to false/undue claims, but it is the responcibility of the CDC to remove those treatments in question and PROVE that they are not the cause of adverse reactions and side effects.

There have been far more drugs/treatments removed because they WERE proven to be harmful.  Vioxx for example.  Killed thousands of people before it was taken off the market.  X-rays were routinely preformed on pregnant women to monitor babies in utero before it was found to be the cause of birth defects.  Thalidomide was prescribed to pregnant women for years before it was proven to be the cause of serious deformities and birth defects--But has since been found to be an effective treatment for blood cancer, a wonderful advancement in medicine.

You are correct, no vaccine is 100%, and there are many many people who do not know that. The general public is lead to belive that vaccines provide immunity, when in fact, they only boost the immune system. 

I just personally belive that both the CDC and the drug companies owe it to us, to complete their research before rushing something to the market.  What is the rush?  Cervical cancer is not even rated in the top 5 of all cancers diagnosed in the US. When it is diagnosed, it is treatable, and 90% of HPV infections will clear up on their own anyway. 

One of the doctors who helped create the vaccine is against it being used without further testing.  That should certainly throw up a red flag.

The average age of a women diagnosed with cervical cancer is 40. 

I am not a naysayer for vaccines.  I just think that there are too many unknowns associated with this vaccine to risk giving it to young girls.

• It is not know how long it is effective; so a girl vaccinated at 9 could require up to 75 booster shots over the course of her lifetime.


• There has been no testing on whether or not it in itself will cause cancer


• There has been no testing on whether or not it can cause sterility


• It has not been proven, but is suggestive, that it can cause birth defects


• HPV is a mutagenic virus, just like the flu, it will continue to produce new strains, possibly stronger and completely resistant to treatment rendering a vaccine useless.

I also agree with you on the rate of misdiagnosed dysplasia, which is why I feel the money being spent on this vaccine would be better spent on educating the public, and  fiding better screening processes.

It just seems wrong to me to rush this vaccine to the market when there are so many what if's not yet answered.  If drug companies would take their time and do proper testing and research before putting new drugs out there, then there would not be so much backlash and mistrust from the public.

My girls are only 6 and 2.  I hope that in the next few years, they will have come to a solid conclusion on the effectiveness of this vaccine, as well as the new one that is set to be released this year.  Cervical cancer has decrease 47% in developed countries over the past few years, and I hope to see that number continue to rise.  Perhaps by the time my girls are old enough to be effected by the virus, there will be a better treatment or possibly even a cure.

I had a chance to sit down and actively read posted information.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/hpv/downloads/vac-faqs-vacsafe-efficacy.pdf   Here is the CDC's take on it. They correct some of the errors in other articles, actual statistics on who has received the vaccine, etc

I also did some research on some of the information posted, Dr Christine Northrup  is an advocate for 'wellness programs'.  She believes in boosting the immune system of the host, and believes that money poured into vaccine programs would be better spent elsewhere.  She has critisms of vaccines in general.  She is of the idea that a 'healthy host' won't contract an illness.  The article can be viewed in it's entirety at

 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/578110?src=rss  But at the conclusion of this article it states this

"It is a good vaccine," Dr. Harper said. "We are simply still in the early stages of investigation."The World Health Organization (WHO) has weighed in on the vaccines and is recommending that they be considered only 1 component of any successful strategy. Immunization will have to be added to the other aspects of cervical cancer control, Andreas Ullrich, MD, medical officer at WHO's department of chronic diseases and health promotion, said in a news release. "There is no question that early detection will continue to be a key element."Merck is encouraging healthcare providers and consumers to report any adverse events associated with Gardasil to the company and to the US  Vaccine reporting system"

Additionally, I viewed the link '10 things you might want to know about gardasil', it's sponsored by 'evil slutopia', I just don't regard that as a serious medical site.

Now, do I believe that there are serious side effects possible.  Yes, I do.  Do I believe they are probable no.  I happened to have enough kids, that I've had kids that have gotten the OPV and then the IPV.   My daughter also participated in drug trials for the DPaT vaccine, at the reccomendation of my pediatrician, and now that is widely available and viewed as a favorable alternative to the DPT vaccine. 

This is something that we will each have to decide for ourselves.  Also, for the record Thalidamide WAS NOT ever available in the United States for use by pregnant women.  It was only available in Europe and Canada (for pregnancy n/v), because the FDA did not believe it was safe.