Saw this on Yahoo News. Thought I would share it:

Click HERE

I work in this field and thought I would share that it does not include all forms of clevical cancer. that was the only info that I thought was lacking from the link. personally I think it is a great idea.

allgirls

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allgirls, mom to 3 girls

I know I would definately get my child vaccinated. This is VERY common and the misconception is that only "loose" girls will contract the HPV virus that is associated with cervical cancer but that simply is not true. I know for a fact because I have been in a monogomous relationship with my husband since I was 16 and I never touched another guy. But I found out 2 years ago that I have HPV and had to get treatment done for it a few times. At first I was freaked out, thinking how could I get an STD????? Turns out my doctor explained, that it has been around along time and huge percentage of the population has it, they are only now finding it because we have better PAP smears and are now testing for it. Even when I was in the office, there was another Mom, who had 3 kids and was in her mid 40's who was appalled that she had this as her case was similiar to mine. I chatted her up and made her feel better because she thought she was slone on this. Ask your doctors about it, it's a very important issue. I started asking around and found out 5 friends I know ran into issues with cervical cancer and or HPV.

While I understand the shot is a good idea for some, this is one my dh and I have decided NOT to give our girls at this time.

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remember, you don't have to have sex in order to get HPV. you can be touching or "fooling around". it can be on the outside of the area. you can also get HPV but not get cervical cancer. there are so many if's. I'm atually happy my girls don't have to be the first ones to get it. I have a couple years yet.
I was molested as a young child so I would have never been able to get the shot but at least someone might have helped me sooner if the secret was found out.

allgirls

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allgirls, mom to 3 girls

That's what my doctor told me in regards to catching it, you can get it by fooling around and in some cases even kissing (I's imagine there are certain circumstances involved and I would like to see the studies on the kissing contraction). It's true that only some forms of HPV cause cervical cancer, and those forms are the ones that do not necessarily cause any type of genital warts. There are other forms of HPV that do cause the warts. And you can contract several forms of HPV, typically you get a combination of them. My PAP smears kept comming back with a problem but they couldn't find anything wrong and I had no outside problems like warts or anything. Finally, they discovered what it was when the testing was better. The kicker is that they have not yet found a real way of testing this in men. My husband took a test, and was told they didn't find anything but that doesn't mean he doesn't have it. It just has no effects in men and is harmless as far as I know.

I tell you, it's very scary when you are told you have something like this. But at the end of the day, it's not so bad as long as you stay on top of things, get tested, get any treatments if needed. I asked my doctor about getting the vaccine and he told me because of my age and the fact that I am in a monogomous long term relationship, he feels that I should wait as the data shows that it comes and goes (yes, it can disappear from your system for a while and pop back up again) They are mainly focusing on vaccinating teenagers for this at this point.

I'm not sure if I would get a child vaccinated, but as in the case of molestation, you never know when a child could be subjected to this. In any event, people need to know that it is indeed very common and people should be aware of it. Life goes on too, I waited till my Paps came back clear then I went and had a baby!

it is my understanding that at this point if you have been exposed to HPV, meaning have had sex, the vaccine will not work for you. I'm sure in the following years that may change. I can tell you that my work has tripled since the test has become more aware by the general public. the test has been around a long time. most docs are also not current on the subject. we get calls daily from docs asking us to explain testing/results.

allgirls

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allgirls, mom to 3 girls

Apparantly, it can play a part in the prevention of the HPV perhaps developing into cervical cancer or for it showing up in your system. I'm saying this because when I found out I had it, my doctor mentioned years ago that they were working on something. Then I questioned him on it recently and it seems that it does do something in terms of prevention. My guess is probably because it comes and goes. I guess it goes into a form of remission. My last 2 PAP smears I came up negative for it, however, it is still in my system and can pop up again.

I'd like to get more info on it so if anyone has any studies or further info, please post it, especially those in the field. Perhaps even the doctors are confused about it as well.