Is Anyone Considering the Cervical Cancer Vaccine?
 

I just went to their website to get more information. I see that the vaccine is targeted to girls and women between the ages of 9 - 26.

http://www.gardasil.com/index.html

from the site:
GARDASIL is for girls and women ages 9 to 26. GARDASIL works when given before you have any contact with HPV Types 6, 11, 16, and 18.

I am outside the age of eligibility it appears.

Yes. I need to talk to my doctor about it, but there's not really a downside for me.

I am outside of the age range too. 26 is such an odd number to stop at. I wonder what the effects would be if someone outside of that age range, but very close to it received the vaccine.

That's something I am curious about as well.

I think, from what I've heard, there are two possibilities. 1. They didn't test above the age of 26 so they can't claim anything. Two, Most 26 year olds are sexually active. If you already have the strains of HPV that are in the vaccine you can increase your chances of getting cancer.

Nope. I'm over the limit AND I get a checkup every year. My daughter will not be taking it either. I need them to do more research.

I think it's an amazing discovery- a shot for cancer! It's a little expensive though (I wonder if insurance covers it? Does anyone know?), but if I was dating I know I would get it.

Even though it's approved up to 26, a lot of insurance companies won't pay for it. I have great health care, but mine doesn't start paying for my age range (i am 26) until January. Not sure if i'll get it or not.

No. In order to get the HPV, I have get some ding-a-ling first, and I'm not having that much luck in that department as for now. Plus, I don't like taking vacs period, I don't even take the flu-shots.

i'm not a big fan of first generation drugs and right now i don't plan on having children - however i think its a GREAT discovery and movement in the right direction - i'd just like a few more studies

It wasn't extensively tested in women over 26, yet, but they're expecting the results for women over 26 soon (at least according to a Gardasil fact sheet I just read).

I will be getting the shot by the end of the year, as will any future daughters of mine (providing that no new evidence calls into question the safety of the drug).

Now for my soapbox: In deciding whether or not to get the vaccine, I did a lot of reading on Gardasil. Now I totally understand being wary of new vaccines, that's a given for me. But there's also a LOT of dissent on whether or not young girls should get the vaccine, based on the idea of talking with a young girl about HPV/STDs or that it will encourage premarital sex and it all really irritates me. All these articles have these moms running their mouths about how their daughters won't be getting it because their "daughter shouldn't be hearing about sexually transmitted diseases yet" or that it "won't be a problem" since their daughter "will remain a virgin until she's married" but APPARENTLY none of these mothers have ever heard of rape or molestation. I think it should be given to young girls from the earliest possible age, as I have known wayyyy too many women that have been sexually assaulted as young girls. You all should check out these articles, some of these people are so ignorant it will make your jaw drop.

That's the end of my soapbox today.

UCSD's student newspaper, The Guardian, did an article on this back in October. http://ucsdguardian.org/viewarticle....onth=10&day=23

It sounds like a pretty expensive investment.

It's not horribly expensive, but I just don't understand why insurance companies aren't covering it!
At women's centers it's $150 for all three shots and I'm pretty sure it's 200 at UF. I've even heard that there is some push to make it a requirement for freshmen entering college.

Yes! I can't believe what they're saying...it's even worse when it's coming out of male politician's mouths.

Yours truly was in the drug study. They paid well when I was a broke college student.