OK, this is actually kinda fascinating.

[pantryslut]

Once you drop the scare headlines, what this story is saying is really, really interesting -- that exposure to HPV via oral sex (they do not say which flavor, but the "use of condoms" note indicates to me that they actually mean fellatio) may be the biggest risk factor for throat cancers, and that this might be a good argument to encourage men to be vaccinated against HPV -- which is something I've been saying since the vaccine was introduced. Also, while I'm here, can someone explain to me if there is any compelling reason not to vaccinate people well before age 11, as is being suggested now? Like, say, as part of the battery of before-age-five vaccines we've got going already? Like, does the immunity wear off and thus booster shots would be called for? That would be a good reason, but I have been poking around for weeks and I can't find any discussion of the issue one way or another.

Comments

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

Lots of good links in Rivka's 6/12/06 post, which can be found here. Some of them may answer these questions.

http://respectfulofotters.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html#115014348839784276#115014348839784276

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

I remember this post. It's a good one to have a pointer to here.

All I can find is that Gardasil "was approved for girls and women ages 9 to 26," from the NYT article. So it doesn't have FDA approval for anyone younger, or for men. OK. That explains some things. What I can't find, still, is any indication as to why that age window exists in the first place. It's probably buried in the primary literature somewhere...

[thette.livejournal.com]

It costs to do clinical trials, and they really wanted this vaccine (these vaccines, actually) on the market. More trials are forthcoming.

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

I think the idea is that the vaccine is worthless if you've already been exposed, and exposure is wide-spread among those who have (non-condomated PiV) sex.

And girls as young as 9 are routinely getting their periods, nowadays. *sigh*

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

This doesn't explain why it wasn't tested on people (OK, girls) even younger and less likely to be exposed -- like age 5. Or 3. Or...see where I'm going?

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

I do.

And I remind you that vaccines are not always perfectly safe, even when everything goes right. But you knew that, I know.

Vaccines have always been a political topic. I recently read "Scourge", which is all about smallpox and the history of the fight against it. (Get me started and I'll talk yer ear off as I remember more & more bits.)

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

And I remind you that vaccines are not always perfectly safe, even when everything goes right. But you knew that, I know.

Of course. (That's what abostick59 was trying to do, too.)

I just want to *know*. Maybe there *is* a reason not to vaccinate earlier. I just want to know what it is (or might be). Or maybe the research just hasn't been done yet. I want to know that too. I want the information first, the politics second. It's maddening how hard that's been to come by on this issue.

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

I need to bring you a copy of New Scientist. I heart that magazine. It's weekly, and it's out of *England*, so it carries real info. I need the whole world to subscribe: then things would be better.

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

It's why I subscribe to Science News, too. Also weekly! And I feel much the same way about the world subscribing, plz.

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

We must have an Exchange of Periodicals. I suspect many interesting things would be discovered in both households.

Also: I go for the witty, but Bean's the smart one in the family, and the one who stays read-up. She'd have muchos interesting things to say on this topic.

[abostick59.livejournal.com]

Also, while I'm here, can someone explain to me if there is any compelling reason not to vaccinate people well before age 11, as is being suggested now? Like, say, as part of the battery of before-age-five vaccines we've got going already?

The fact that the vaccine was approved by the Bush FDA long before clinical trials to evaluate its efficacy and safety are complete might give one pause.

After the results are in, fine, make the vaccine mandatory for children if it is known to be safe. But we shouldn't let our pathological fear of cancer scare us into give Big Pharma a free pass.

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

"our pathological fear of cancer"

Who is this *our* you're referring to, hm?

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

Or, to be more clear: I am capable of forming an opinion on this issue that is pro-vaccination without being scared, intimidated, or blind to Big Pharma's flaws.

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

I don't have a pathological fear of cancer: I have a healthy respect for it. Leukemia killed my father before he was 30, and cervical cancer killed my great-grandmother [okay, well after she was 30].

[manomano.livejournal.com]

I wonder, if the vaccine were for men, if there would be such an outcry, or is the fact that it's girls that are being vaccinated that scares the religious right so much.

*sarcasm*

[touchyphiliac.livejournal.com]

It's the fact that getting a vaccine for a virus that is transmitted sexually means that, after people get the vaccine, girls--who are already the biggest sluts on earth despite the fact that it takes two to tango--will go out and fuck everything in sight. Which men already do, but who cares! Men can't get diseases because they often have a mighty penis, which makes them invincible.

Because after I got my tetanus shot, I went out and stabbed myself with rusty nails JUST BECAUSE I COULD!!!!!

[slfisher.livejournal.com]

It's what my daughter is doing on her ninth birthday, absent any contraindications before then.

I'd get it myself but I'm too damn old.

[manomano.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday! *JAB* Perhaps, to not make the memory of her birthday painful, you might consider having it done on the day after?

[slfisher.livejournal.com]

Thanks, but I wasn't asking for advice.

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

But it's amazing how people just enter conversations on the internet, isn't it?

And even more amazing how easy it is to just change the channel....