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Just wondered if anyone will be watching Dispatches on Channel 4 (Monday 21st) at 8pm?
Apparantly about a very common STD that they will start vaccinating people with in September, which can apparantly stop cancer before it starts.
Sounds rather intriguing.

I didn't watch it, but I knew they were rolling it out. It's a vaccination against HPV (human papilloma virus... warts!), some strains of which cause cervical cancer.

Funny thing is, they could vaccinate against all strains, but instead they just chose the ones that cause cancer. It's like "nope, we still want you to have genital warts, but we will stop you getting cancer from them. Ha ha."

I suspect much more relevant to the general population of TM will be the bowel cancer screening they are also bringing in pretty soon. You'll get a little kit through the post or from your GP etc. and you'll have to wipe some poo on it...

Isn't this the story that some parents actually don't want their daughters to be immunised against something as dreadful as cancer of the unmentionables because it might make them ask questions about what their bits are for and so promote promiscuity? Something crazy like that, anyway. I'll certainly be tuning in. It sounds like a minefield of assumption and prejudice, but we'll see...

I must admit i would be wary of having my daughter vaccinated.
Not because of worries about her "bits" never to young to learn about them if you ask me, but because it is still relativly new and i would want a lot more testing first. - just look at the scares from mmr and even results from thalidamide. Something this important for me needs more testing.

just a pennies worth.

Depends whether you get the warts from the immunization. I'd probably not have it done in my opinion, unless it was a guaranteed cancer immunity jab.
Who knows what experimental treatments could do to you, although I hear you get paid a hell of a lot for being a guinea pig.

Danneh wrote:Who knows what experimental treatments could do to you, although I hear you get paid a hell of a lot for being a guinea pig.

Is this jab an experimental treatment?

Don't know to be honest, just made an assumption.

The advert says all 12yr old girls in the country will have the jab by September of this year (unless their parents dont consent).

No, it's not experimental - the jab definitely stops the virus and the virus definitely causes cancer. The question is, will the immunisation programme be successful. Cervical cancer doesn't tend to present until early/middle age (hence the screening programme runs from 25 upwards), so it will be a while until we know whether it has had any impact on it.

It's true, the chances of getting the warts if you aren't sleeping around is pretty slim, so some people may choose the chastity belt option over a vaccine. Danneh - unless you are a girl, you don't need to get it done anyway.

I don't understand what the fuss is about - no one explains to kids what the polio vaccine is for, you just eat your sugar cube and that's the end of it. To suggest that having another jab is going to necessitate sitting little Lucy down and telling her it's now very, very slightly safer for her to sleep around is pretty ludicrous - besides, until they find one for all the other STDs, it's hardly any less risky.

Unfortunately, nothing sells papers quite like a good scare, which has unfortunately meant that people view immunisation with suspicion now, rather than the life-saving programme it is. (For the record, MMR is and always has been fine. If your children haven't been immunised, go and do it now )

The down side to all this furor is that immunisation is a public health intervention - it works for the greater good. If 30 kids in a class have had MMR for example, the chances of the 3 that for some reason haven't getting it are pretty slim because who are they going to catch it from? But if more like half the children's parents decide not to have their child immunised, suddenly there's a lot greater chance that the disease will run riot. Hence, your not just protecting your children, you are helping to actually iradicate the disease a la small pox.

Oh no mine had the mmr and everything else available. But i dont think i would let mine have it yet, i would rather wait a few years to see long term mass results. im glad she is only 4 so by the time she will have it loads of data will be around.

FairieSnuff wrote:just look at the scares from mmr and even results from thalidamide. Something this important for me needs more testing.

The MMR scare was started by a doctor who used questionable techniques and whose research was later proved to be wrong. Many times. Loads of stories on this is at Bad Science

It's safe, folks!

FairieSnuff wrote:Oh no mine had the mmr and everything else available.

Glad to hear it
I think that's fair enough ( ), your daughter has a good few years to go before she's at risk. Mind you, they're at it younger and younger these days...

Speaking of younger and younger....

I once saw an episode of South Park humourously depicting a pack of condoms designed for kids aged 10. I chuckled.
But a few months later whilst reading the metro on a train I discovered our govornment actually has plans to release condoms thru clinics to children as young as 10 years of age. Which is just ridiculous, but y'know.

1985: Two kids. One says: "I found a condom on the veranda" The other says: "What's a condom?"

1986: Two kids. One says: "I found a condom on the veranda" The other says: "What's a veranda?"

This has been a HUGE issue in the States for about two years now; certain church groups going so far as to try to keep the commercials on the treatment off the TV and Radio... but then we're talking about church groups, not folks that general think for themselves.

In my mind, if such a treatment were available and legit I'd want it for my kids.

Well, after watching Dispatches it isnt actually that good. Since it only protects from 2 of the 16 cancerous strains. Albeit the 2 most common strains, better than nothing i guess.