Gardasil (not just for females)

[zillymilly]

Hey, not sure if there is a thread already about this or if this is at all relevant...but I got my first Gardasil shot today, for y'all who don't know what it is: GARDASIL® [Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus (Types 6,11,16 and 18) Recombinant Vaccine]or wiki it.. but long story short, it's a 3-dose shot that you get over a 6 month period, and it is supposed to help prevent a few kinds of HPV and (and help keep away some serious/deadly diseases that can come from having that..) it is good for males and females and seems a bit pricey if you don't have some decent coverage.. but is probably a good idea in the long run..

Also, HPV: "is the most common sexually transmitted infection and affects 50% of sexually active adults over their lifetimes. The CDC estimates that 20 million Americans currently have a strain of HPV, with 6 million new cases each year. The virus has 40 different strains and is unusual in that its symptoms and outcomes can vary wildly; most people who have the virus have no symptoms and no lasting health problems. About 90% of HPV cases clear up on their own, though it can take up to two years for that to happen, which affords plenty of time to spread the disease." -CNN

Anyway, every Doctor I've spoken to has gushed about how happy and proud they are that I'm taking this step in keeping myself safe, yadda yadda. Another few of them talked either about how upset they are males are not getting it or how their own son's have gotten it already.. thoughts? Any males (or females) gotten this shot yet?

I've yet to hear anything bad about this, and I don't know bout the rest of you, but my own folks scared the cocky-teenager-invincibility junk out of me by sitting me down with a copy of "KIDS" when I was just a youngin'.. haha, I will NEVER, EVER go without some form of sexual protection..not that I would've before the movie, but bloody hell--did that film scare me. :P

ANYWAY, just wanted to see what people felt about this.. here's an article about the shot being used for males..

ps. if you ARE thinking of getting it, it was super quick -- easy, and painless (well, practically, but I'm pretty darn used to needles so I'm good) also, it's for people ages 9-26 and really is something to look into, if it's helpful and good for our health in preventing the spread of HPV and keeping away some other not-so-nice-stuff -- why not get it?



tc!

[Zontar]

I'm interested in getting it but, as with any medical procedure, am concerned about rare but serious side effects. What exactly is the incidence of severe side effects with Gardasil?

[Maddy]

I got it several years ago, when I was in high school - it was offered free to females in their teens and early 20s, I think, and there was a program where it was given at schools so we didn't have to go to the doctor to get it. I had no side effects.

[TraceElement]

I got mine in '07. The only side effect I had was a soreness in my upper arm, like that of a tetnus booster.I know that it doesn't prevent all types of HPV, but in my mind it's at least (potentially) protecting me from more dangerous stuff.

[Mister E]

I got mine today, actually. It made me feel better to know that I have that extra layer of protection, but it also seems like less intelligent people would think that unprotected sex can't give STDs anymore. Well, I know people that would think that.

My arm was burning for a bit after I got it, but they warned me about that. Its still kinda sore but I don't have any weird side effects.

Although, I thought it was silly that the doctor wanted me to get it so I don't give any girls that type of cancer (I think it was a type of cancer) since I'm gay ^_^ :P

[Rosina]

I got mine done a few years ago too. It's always worth getting shots for diseases in my books, just helps the good ol' immune system out

[KaraBulut]

The original recommendation for HPV immunization (Gardasil, Cervarix) was that young girls should get the series of 3 shots before they became sexually active. In Oct 2009, it was approved for use in males. Hopefully, the immunization of both sexes will help stop the spread of HPV in straight people and will help reduce the incidence of cervical cancer.

There isn't a official recommendation for gay and lesbian teenagers. There was a recent study that looked at increases in oral and throat cancers and found that the increase was related to HPV- the tumors were positive for HPV. So, with the knowledge that HPV is responsible for the majority of anal and oral cancers, we are recommending that gay and lesbian people get immunized for HPV.

Originally Posted by Zontar

What exactly is the incidence of severe side effects with Gardasil?

This is not a live virus vaccine, so the incidence of adverse effects is low.

The most common adverse effect is burning or soreness at the injection site. From the times that I have adminstered it, I would say that the burning is less that the measles (MMR) immunization and the soreness is similar to what we see with flu shots.

Not to get off topic, but worth mentioning- gay men should be immunized for Hepatitis B (HBV), so if you talk with your doctor about HPV immunization, it would also be a good time to confirm that you received HBV immunization as a child. If you cannot confirm that you were immunized for HBV, there's a blood test that can confirm that you received the HBV shots.

[zillymilly]

Not to get off topic, but worth mentioning- gay men should be immunized for Hepatitis B (HBV), so if you talk with your doctor about HPV immunization, it would also be a good time to confirm that you received HBV immunization as a child. If you cannot confirm that you were immunized for HBV, there's a blood test that can confirm that you received the HBV shots.

Well, it's in a thread about vaccines and whatnot.. so not too much off topic and defintely a good thing to be looking into

I got it several years ago, when I was in high school - it was offered free to females in their teens and early 20s, I think, and there was a program where it was given at schools so we didn't have to go to the doctor to get it. I had no side effects.

Yeah, I heard about this in the elementary school I volunteer in, but I was already out of it and highschool by then.. did it seem like a lot of people in your grade/school got it? I've heard some silly people say it'll increase the likelihood of teens being sexually active (it's the same argument for why most schools don't have condoms around and about or why we have such a shameful sexual education curriculum in our elementary grades)..

What exactly is the incidence of severe side effects with Gardasil?

and I don't seem to be having any side effects, although I had a bit of a numb face last night, I think that was just some migraine fun.. even the day after my arm doesn't really hurt like it sometimes does after other shots.. surprisingly got up early today to do more homework, so, doesn't look like it's been bad for me at all..

I got mine done a few years ago too. It's always worth getting shots for diseases in my books, just helps the good ol' immune system out

Do you get the flushot as well?? I'm wary of it after I got pretty ill one time after getting it done.. it wasn't a good few weeks.. but maybe I should look into it again, I'm working in shelters this year and schools.. and they seem to encourage it.

[Rosina]

Originally Posted by zillymilly

Do you get the flushot as well?? I'm wary of it after I got pretty ill one time after getting it done.. it wasn't a good few weeks.. but maybe I should look into it again, I'm working in shelters this year and schools.. and they seem to encourage it.

Yes, I do get the annual flu shot. Whilst the risk is there that you could get ill from it, I never have to date, and it's not the full strength form of the virus, that I'm sure of; I can't remember if it's a dead version, a weakened version, or just the surface proteins or what have you, but I've been having it for the past three years so I can reduce the risk of catching the actual strain and being knocked out for a few weeks.

I decided to start getting it done after I caught a particularly nasty strain the year before and it left me bed ridden with incredibly sore limbs along with all the lovely fluey symptoms for about three weeks. I couldn't move without being in a high amount of pain (I'm hesitant to say agony as I've a high pain-threshold) and I had no energy, so I missed a lot of school that was crucial learning for my GCSEs (UK exams taken at ages 15/16).

Whilst it's not unheard of for side-effects to happen when you get the flu shot, I think it's worth considering getting it done; I've heard that you can't actually get ill from the shot, rather you pick up something else after you've had the shot because your immune system's working overtime to defend against the flu shot - sometimes you might pick up the flu that you're trying to immunise yourself against!

Also, I think the flu has an incubation period of two weeks, so even if you had the shot within the time you picked up the actual strain, your body won't have developed sufficient antibodies to defend against the flu when it rears its head.

Of course, this is what I've heard and been lead to believe, correct me if I'm wrong

[KaraBulut]

Originally Posted by Rosina Chicita

Yes, I do get the annual flu shot. Whilst the risk is there that you could get ill from it, I never have to date, and it's not the full strength form of the virus, that I'm sure of; I can't remember if it's a dead version, a weakened version, or just the surface proteins...

Re flu shots: The injectable forum is inactivated virus- it is virus grown in culture that is killed. So, you're getting injected with proteins from a virus that is dead.

The nasal "mist" version is live virus that has been attuentuated or altered so that it is no longer able to establish an infection in humans.

The flu immunization is prepared months in advance of the flu season. Influenza is constantly mutating, so by the time flu season rolls around, it is a different strain of influenza than the strain in the immunization. So, some people will still get the flu. However, they didn't get the virus from the immunization- it was community acquired.

Currently the virus is grown in eggs or tissue cultures and it takes months to prepare enough virus to immunize everyone. There's some new research that is looking to find proteins that never change in influenza and to find quicker ways to culture the virus. So, in the near future, the immunization will confer longer immunity and won't be such a hit-and-miss process like it is today.