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MyHealthNewsDaily
The nation's largest pediatrician group today released its new schedule of recommended childhood vaccinations. It made three major changes to its previous recommendations, after a federal advisory panel of experts reviewed recent evidence from vaccine studies.
The biggest change is the new recommendation that boys should be vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV). Since 2006, the HPV vaccine has been recommended for girls, primarily to help prevent cervical cancer, and in 2009, the experts advised that boys "could" be given the shots, too.
The stronger wording in the new recommendations, that boys "should" be given the shots, came about because new data showed giving boys the vaccine can help lessen the odds of HPV-associated cancers in men and in women, said Dr. H. Cody Meissner, chief of pediatric infectious disease at the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.
Meissner was part of the group of experts updating this year's recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics; the panel also included experts from the Centers for Disease and Prevention, which had previously recommended the HPV vaccine for boys.
The new vaccination schedules are published today (Feb. 1) in the journal Pediatrics.
Routine HPV vaccinations for boys
The new guidelines call for boys to get the first of the three doses of HPV vaccine at age 11 or 12, the same age the shot is recommended for girls.
HPV vaccinations are also advised for young men ages 13 to 21 if they've not yet had all three shots. It may be given to boys as young as 9 and to men between 22 and 26.
Young people are encouraged to get all three shots, given over a 6-month period, before they become sexually active.
"Every parent likes to think their child is not sexually active in their early teen years," Meissner said. "But if you wait until they're sexually active, you miss the benefit of the vaccine."
The vaccine has been known to protect against genital warts in males and females, and recent evidence has shown it can prevent anal cancer in men and women. The HPV vaccine has also been shown to be protective against penile cancers, as well as head and neck cancers.
Updates to meningococcal and flu vaccines
The meningococcal and flu vaccines are the focus of the other two changes to the guidelines.
A booster dose of the meningococcal vaccine is now recommended for children at age 16. The previous schedule recommended children be routinely immunized against meningococcal disease, which prevents most types of meningitis, when they are 11 or 12.
Infectious disease experts had thought that one dose of meningococcal vaccine would protect a young person through the college years, Meissner said. "But data became available that the vaccine doesn't last that long, and the risk goes up late in the teen years," he said.
Teens are now advised to get a booster dose to make sure that protection is maintained through the high-risk window, which occurs between 16 and 21 years, when many are living in close quarters, such as in college dormitories.
Some slight tweaks were also made to flu shot recommendations. This was the second year the AAP is recommending that children 6 months and older need to get the annual flu shot, Meissner said.
The new schedule clarifies the guidance for giving the flu shot to kids with egg allergies. Studies have shown the amount of egg protein in the flu vaccine is not enough to produce an allergic reaction in those with mild allergies, who can eat cooked eggs, Meissner said. Still, the flu shot may not be appropriate for people with a severe egg allergy, he said.
Advice for parents
A lot of parents are nervous about the number of shots recommended for children and teenagers these days, and they want to know how long each vaccine has been around, and how serious the risk is if their child does not get it, said Dr. Peter Greenspan, medical director of MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston.
He said he has noticed that parents are getting increasingly discerning about immunizations. "I find that parents really want to know the whys about the vaccines, which is entirely appropriate and important information for doctors to share," Greenspan said.
When new changes are made to the vaccination schedule, he said, "it's just a matter of explanation and discussion with your pediatrician."
Pass it on: Experts now recommend that pre-teen boys get vaccinated against HPV, that 16-year-olds be vaccinated against meningitis and that almost all children receive a flu shot annually.
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What to Do (And Not to Do) to Ease Kids' Vaccination Pains
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Oh boy. Soon they are going to recommend men get mammograms too. When will it end?
Men are carriers of HPV but cannot be tested for it, which means they blindly pass it to women, who can get cancer from it. It's also spread orally and leads to head and neck cancer. All boys should be getting the HPV vaccine to prevent the spread of HPV.
And who infects the males with the HPV virus? As a virus, it has to come from some infected host. HPV is not an airborne virus. Maybe all females should be vaccinated, and that would solve the problem. Don't blame us!
mike: They already tell young women to get vaccinated. This recommendation is to increase the effectiveness of the vaccination program.
Don't people know that even vaccines can become useless if not enough people are vaccinated? Think what happens to bacteria if you only take antibiotics for a couple of days; the bacteria that are left mutate and become resistant to that antibiotic. Men are asking women to be the only ones vaccinated or treated for HPV, but the vaccine might be less effective because not everybody is vaccinated; viruses can mutate under these circumstances. It's almost funny that some men are more afraid of the vaccine than of women getting cancer, or of themselves getting unstoppable head and neck cancer.
do they have a vaccine against the deaths and other side effects of this vaccine ?
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/vaccines/hpv/gardasil.html
Scare mongering is not appreciated.
This line from the link you shared was interesting "In the 34 reports confirmed, there was no unusual pattern or clustering to the deaths that would suggest that they were caused by the vaccine"
However lets pretend all 74 deaths were from the vaccine which has had around 40,000,000 doses administered, how does this compare with the deaths from cervical cancer 4,220 and the vaccine is expected to halve this.
So easy for you to say Krestov you or your loved one hasn't been crippled by this vaccine. Stop being a sheeple. Teach kids safe sex and if your an adult TALK and TEST before you "do it."
But more people are crippled from the effects of the virus than the vaccine. Don't see your point Sharktopussie.
We know what is in these vaccines, I'm a realist nothing is 100% safe any little thing people jump on, for goodness sake some people have to be mature about these things and know that the lives of our sister's, mother;s and daughter's could be saved.
Do you know that antibiotics have more side effects than vaccines yet I am sure you are more than happy to take them. Also do you know that more people die from peanut allergies or from choking on strawberries than side effects from vaccines. Do you propose stopping these from being eaten or proclaim from the hills that these have not been tested on enough people to see if they are safe??
I can say with certainty that the vaccine people receive has under gone more testing to see if it is safe than the strawberry or apple you buy at the supermarket.
That is the reality of the situation and that is how ridiculous the argument against vaccines has become.
Antibiotics are more of a 'need to have now' kind of drug. Bad analogy.
Excellent recommendations by this panel! Prevention is ALWAYS better than trying to cure after a disease has occurred.
Their bottom line appreciates it too.
Sheep.
The government, and a medical practitioners union, working with a big drug manufacturer to sell its product to new a market segment - now there is a real unusual situation! Did Rick Perry have a say in this?
Normally, I'd agree with you, but men are carriers for HPV, often without showing symptoms. Since there's no way to test men for it, they pass it on to women who can get cancer from it. It can also be transmitted orally and is causing a rise in head and neck cancer. It's an important vaccine.
Show me a test that specifically lets a carrier know which strains of HPV they have? Remember, women can carry it too for years and not know they have it. It has been said it is possible to pass the virus from mother to child at the time of vaginal birth. It is also possible to pass this without sexual contact. So tell me how you test to be sure the vaccine will be effective at all. If you have the strains already it does nothing for you. At worst, it can actually act as a catalyst and cause what people seem to think they are trying so hard to prevent.
One of the researchers of the Gardasil vaccine has repeatedly stated it is beyond unacceptable to vaccinate young girls (9-11). It gives them a false sense of security. It also does not prevent all types of cervical cancers nor does it protect against the over 100+ strains of HPV. Only the four strains they isolated that could cause cervical cancer or could cause genital warts. So if a strain mutates and becomes "harmful", well, you need another round of shots, that is, if you don't already have the strain, which no one can test either sex for. It has also been shown that an average woman who does get cervical dysplasia (the precursor to cervical cancer) can be cured. It has also been stated that most cases of cervical dysplasia simply goes away on its own.
Vaccines are, in my mind, meant to prevent widespread social diseases that can have catostrophic effects on the human population as a whole. Cervical cancer, while devastating, is neither catostrophic nor so widespread that it threatens to eliminate humans from the face of the Earth. To call this a vaccine is ploy at best to give it a sense of safety.
You took the words right out of my mouth litesingr!
"A false sense of security?" Do you go around stepping on rusty nails because you have had a tetanus shot? No. People are going to have sex because they want to, not because they now have a vaccine. And while many women survive a positive pap smear, many don't. Just ask Jade Goody, oh wait, you can't.
Your right. A percentage of women will not survive an abnormal pap smear (which is what I believe you are trying to get at). The majority of women do. At which point will society stop trying to save everyone for the sake of trying to save everyone? Jade, unfortunately, would have died one way or another. It is a fact for all of us; we are all going to die one day. The fact that she died of cervical cancer is sad, true, but it is really not much of an argument for this "vaccine". Jade could have contracted cervical cancer for a multitude of other variables, not just HPV that may have been a factor. Did Jade smoke? Was she around smokers? Did she take birth control pills? Did she have a family history of cancer? You can't simply say "she had cervical cancer so she must have had an HPV infection".
As for your other argument, no, people don't typically go around stepping on rusty nails just because they got a tetanus shot. People will have sex for the pleasure of it, it is what we humans do.
The fact that they have a "vaccine" that "prevents cervical cancer" will give a false sense of "cervical cancer cannot happen to me, I was vaccinated" security and they will not go for their yearly exams or feel the exams are less important. Thank you for your literal interpretation though.
Its possible to demonstrate statistically that among people taking Gardasil shots are rarely hit on the head by meteor fragments. Therefore, we should protect everyone from meteorites by mandating Gardasil shots for everyone. That's particularly true for young men, as meteor fragment may bounce off one of their skulls and hit a young woman!
Oh, don't drink water either! 100% of people drink water in their lifetimes - and 100% of people die eventually! Q.E.D.!
Kidding aside, if you are over 18 and are concerned about acquiring an HPV infection, then get immunized. Otherwise, stay out of our bodies and out of our wallets!
I refuse to have my girls get this shot, and I am not about to let my boys get it either. Now before everyone gets started on being irresponsible and all of that. Here is my thing. This vaccine has BARELY been studied in kids as young as they are recommending it for. They have NO CLUE about long term side effects. And there are other countries that have stopped the trials of this vaccine do to possible adverse effects.
I'm with you on this. My children will not get this shot. I also don't consider it irresponsible since you can't "get" cervical cancer like you can get small pox, measles, polio or whooping cough.
I agree, Tia. It's a scary thing when they start pushing vaccines.
Ignorant parents think their sons will never grow up to do or think "dirty" things. So, let them get cancer instead. Nice.
The vaccine hasn't been in use long enough for the results to be accurate. When women that were vaccinated as young girls begin to show all kinds of side effects, you'll hear the screaming.
Remember Thalidomide?
I find it astounding that so much research and emphasis is given to cancers caused by HPV. If you do any research on it, you will find that those cancers are rare, even cervical cancer, and that the vast majority of women who are infected with the HPV virus will clear it with their own immunity system. Even the PAP smear has been oversold and, even for those at risk and needing it, it is done way too often. Some estimates say that 75% or more of sexually active people have the HPV virus at some time but nowhere near that number will ever develop cancer. Money and research should be put into more common cancers and the fear mongering over HPV should be toned down.
On the other hand, I am glad to see that they are finally recommending that boys/men have vaccines, etc. instead of always picking on women. It is always women that the medical community is targeting: birth control, PAP smears, pelvic exams, mammograms, blah, blah, blah. Why don't they "recommend" that men get yearly genital exams, testicular screening (testicular cancer is more common that cervical cancer), screened for STDs??? It's always directed at women. Like men are not even participants in the sexual act. Just my opinion.
Its about time the health sex discrimination against men and boys ends. Women can get endless tests covered, and men aren't allowed to get anything.
Sounds to me like yet another way for Big Pharma to rake in more money. Keep an eye out, pretty soon it will be mandatary for boys who attend public school to be vaccinated. If people won't pay willingly, just make it a law.
Fella's would you have sex with a woman that you knew tested positive for HPV?
Ladies would you not have sex with a man who didn't get vaccinated?
The way I see it is if it doesn't matter to either then okay, but if it does you need to get vaccinated.
Hmmm...the way I see it is the makers of the drug didn't get the response they are looking for.$$$$$$$$$
So now they want to widen the net and hopefully make more $$$$$$$$
what do you think, Is that remotely possible?
Big pharma is pushing this. None of my kids will get vaccinated. The US calls universal healthcare socialism but it blindy follow the advice of some so called experts who are lobbyed by pharmacutecal companies who profit greatly from all this vaccines we are urged to give are kids.
i would hold off on those vaccines folks. there are whispers that those kids in upstate new york with the weird ticks may be having a bad reaction to this vaccine.
There are also whispers that it is all in their heads.
yeah, i know. how much do you think the pharmaceutical company that makes guardicil paid that psychologist to say that? those girls did not even know each other. mass hysteria my ass. my daughter and i agreed a few years ago that she would not get the vaccine because we were reading some very scary stuff about it. when do we recognize ourselves for the guinea pigs we have become? chemical contamination is another theory and erin brokovitch is actually looking into that. the town and school are giving her a hard time.
Ok, then why is it only these girls and not the thousands of others who have been vaccinated? Conspiracy theory fail.
rosie, the vaccine has been stopped in much of europe because of complications with it. there may have been a bad batch that was used on these kids. or it could be chemical contamination and not the vaccine at all. there is now a 36 year old nurse with symptoms. one thing i feel certain about- it is not "mass hysteria".
my own teenage daughter had already gotten the first half of the vaccine when a close friend from england told me about the european concerns. i looked into it and she did not get the second half.
Orrrr,
You could just stay away from the SC ANKY STUFF!!!
If you choose not to vaccinate your children, ask the question: Should America be a country that vaccinates their children? Only two possible answers.
1) No. In which case you feel that America should be a third world country in which hundreds of thousands loose their lives to preventable diseases every year. Before choosing this answer, I would recommend that you talk to one of the 5 sets of parents in the world who will loose their child to measles today.
2) Yes. In which case you believe that America should use vaccinations to prevent disease, but you feel it is okay for a selfish group of few to put the burden of this on the rest of the populations' children.
Either answer is sad.
Yes, we should vaccinate for those communicable diseases that are highly infectious and devastating to the general human population, i.e. polio, measles, whooping cough, etc.. That is a responsible thing to do.
No, we should not just simply accept that just because it is called a "vaccine" that it becomes an automatic rush to the doctor to get. Cervical cancer can be caused by many variables, one of which may be caused by four isolated strains out of 100+ strains of the human papillomavirus.
Cervical cancer is not communicable nor is it a devastating threat to our human population. Yes, it is a devastating disease to have, but it is also one of the most preventable of all the cancers. Yearly follow-ups with the GYN and early treatment of cervical dysplasia (the precursor to cervical cancer) has helped to reduce the number of women diagnosed with cervical cancer over the past 20 years.
Just some thoughts. Most people will be infected with 1 or more strains of HPV during their lifetime. Most people will also not know that they have been infected. Oral/laryngeal tumors (benign and malignant) are on the rise and the underlying etiology is HPV. Anal cancer is on the rise (among men and women) and the underlying etiology is HPV (notice the trend?). Young people with healthy immune systems tend to get rid of HPV infections without complications. However, being infected with certain strains and being older when infected can lead to cancer.
HPV is one of the safest vaccines available seeing as no actual virus is inside the vaccine. The protein coat (which does not contain the DNA for replication) self assembles into antigenic (immune stimulating) particles. And as a comparison, you are all (most likely) vaccinated against hepatocellular carcinoma (cancer of the liver). How you say? Hepatitis B virus vaccine protects you from being infected with this virus that causes liver cancer.
FYI: condoms do not provide 100% protection from HPV infections (or any infection manifesting in areas not covered by it).
Great! You appear to either be a medical professional or an aspiring medical professional. So I'll ask you. How many strains of Hep B are there? I am required to get the Hep B vaccine because my military job is in a medical squadron. Does the Heb B vaccine only protect agains certain Hep B viruses? I have not researched it too much but it looks like chronic carriers of Hep B may develop cerrosis of the liver or liver cancer. Does the immune system naturally get rid of Hep B without complications?
I think you have stumbled on some sort of link. Increased use of Purell and antibiotics have weakened the natural immune system. You state that healthy immune systems should get rid of HPV infections without complications. So instead of working to naturally improve the body's own immune system to naturally fight HPV, we are going to subject people to a "vaccine" (at $300 a pop) that is supposedly going to do it for them. How does that make sense?
I am in medical school, so yes an aspiring MD. There is one strain of Hep B and you are protected from contracting it if you get vaccinated (but nothing in life is 100% so feel free to deconstruct that statement). There are many hep viruses (A, C, E and so on). A few people might be able to get rid of the virus but most become chronic carriers, not a chance you want to take. Also, the virus integrates into your DNA so you might fight off the virus but now it has messed up a portion of DNA and that can lead to cancer later on. Hep A and E do not become chronic illness and they are transmitted via the fecal-oral route (get a Hep A vaccine, wash your hands and don't eat raw food in endemic countries).
On your second point, although young, healthy people can get "rid" of some variants of the virus they are less likely to do so with the more aggressive forms (cancer causing ones). Smoking increases that risk further. The vaccines protects you from 2 of the variants that are most likely to cause cancer and 2 that cause warts. These 4 strains were selected based on the severity of disease and prevalence within the population. I should also clarify that it is not clear if once infect you get "rid" of the virus or it is dormant (kind of like herpes - infected with it but not always active). Also, from my understanding is that more insurance companies are covering the cost of the vaccine. My insurance company covered the cost.
The topic of the immune system warrants its own discussion (remarkable system) so I'll leave that alone. The only thing I will mention is that vaccines modulate your immune system or as you put it "improve the body's own immune system." I'll let you ponder that one.
So are you saying that if I am already infected with 1 or all 4 strains of HPV, then there is a definite certainty that I will develop cervical cancer? At what age does this become more prevalent? Can this shot guarantee that I will never develop cervical cancer? Of course not. It even states as such in the commercials, but most people ignore that fact. In my state, we had a congresswoman introduce the mandatory vaccination legislation on the premise that it was a "cure for cervical cancer". That is extremely dangerous, wouldn't you say? Thank goodness it was not passed.
My issue is that most vaccines are to prevent you from ever contracting polio or whooping cough, or measles. This shot does not prevent cervical cancer. If you are already not infected, then you may be protected from 4 isolated strains of over 100+ strains of HPV. Will none of the other strains mutate to be an aggressive, cancer-causing virus? Considering the commercials and scare hype associated with this "vaccine", wouldn't one expect the general public to expect the other 100+ strains to also cause cancer? There is no test to detect which strains you may have, so you can't know how effective this shot will be until something, good or bad, happens.
I am not sure what you are arguing about or even asking. You should do some background research on HPV, immunology and vaccines to have a good foundation for what you are saying. I am not saying that to offend you, I am only making an observation that you seem to have very little knowledge about a topic you have made +5 posts on. This is exemplified by your last statement "there is no test to detect which strains you may have". Please look up "HPV Tests" and limit your information to reputable websites like webmd, google scholar (which has a myriad of peer-reviewed articles) and the like. The overall public discourse on HPV is vacuous seeing as the statements are not based on facts (opposing or supporting).