I'm not a doctor, but I've seen them on TV. So I thought I'd ask your opinion on a new medical issue facing my daughters.

Have you heard of the new vaccine for cervical cancer? It's actually a vaccine against HPV (I think) which it is estimated that 80% of everyone has. HPV is usually asymptomatic, but does trigger cervical cancer in some women. Although men transmit the virus, they are not affected by it. So apparently, if you've ever had sex with more than one person in your whole life, or if the only person you ever had sex with has had sex with someone else - ever, then you are in the higher risk group to have this HPV.

They've just recently developed better testing to determine if you have the virus. If you get regular paps, then you should be fine. If you haven't, you should go. You can ask for a special test for the HPV. Most insurances cover it, especially if your doc thinks you might need it, which most people do.

Anyway, now a vaccine is available to prevent HPV. The thing is, it's too late for us. “They” are recommending it for girls who are not yet sexually active. But some people think we should teach our kids to only have sex ever with one person. I say, prepare for the worse and hope for the best.

So I asked my pediatrician today about it. She recommended against it. She said that in America, only about 500 women die of cervical cancer a year. Mostly the women who die from it do not have their regular check ups. When found in its earliest stages, the treatment success is very high. So she asks if it is necessary to vaccinate an entire population for those circumstances?

hhhmmm

Plus, insurance isn't paying yet and it is expensive. She said it was a three shot series and she could order it for me if I was willing to pay in advance - $140 per shot.

So what do you think?
Would you vaccinate your daughter with the “first model year” of a vaccine series under these circumstances? Have any of you talked to your docs? I know a couple of you folks are nurses. I'd love to hear your opinions.

I'm leaning against it after talking to the doc. I think I have established good health habits with my kids as far as regular preventive care goes. Is it safe to assume she'll continue when she's an adult just because I do? I would certainly pay $420 to prevent my kid from getting cancer, but the vaccine is still new too.

hhhmmm