davis sq plan p offering gardasil vaccines
Feb. 2nd, 2007 10:34 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
lyonesse.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
davis_squarei really need to write a good essay about this, but here's the quick scoop, since folks are starting to ask.....
. there's no easy test for hpv. the way the test works at all is, you take a pap smear (aka some cells). if they're overtly normal, nobody generally frets. HOWEVER, you can culture the dna in the cells (or presumably penile cells by counterpart) to find the *unexpressed* viral dna in an infected but normally behaving cell. this also allows for viral-subtype analysis.
. regardless, gardasil (a vaccine) protects against 4 of the 20 or so hpv subtypes (6, 11, 16, 18). 16 and 18 cause 70% of cervical cancer cases, and 6 and 11 cause 90% of genital warts cases.
. but even if you haven't been tested, it's unlikely you carry all four of these viruses. so even if you've been sexually active for awhile, or even if you've had genital warts, it may be a good idea to get the vaccine if you don't want to get more warts or to reduce your chance of cervical cancer.
. and if you're not yourself female, you might still not want to get warts, nor to expose your partners to either warts or cancer-causing viruses that you don't already have.
. AND HERE'S THE IMPORTANT BIT: the fda has only really signed off on giving the vaccine to girls 9-12, who presumably have not yet been exposed. they're iffier but signed off for women up to age 26, too.
. BUT IT'S OKAY TO GET THE VACCINE EVEN IF YOU ARE OLDER OR NOT FEMALE. it's a killed-virus vaccine, and the mechanisms are well understood; it is unlikely to pose say a grown man any danger that it doesn't pose a little girl (say swelling at the injection site). IT'S ALSO LEGAL -- it's an "off-label use", but these can be and frequently are used for prescription drugs.
. AND -- the PLAN P DROP-IN CENTER in davis square will gladly give you gardasil, even if you're an old hag like me. they'll try to bill your insurance, though i expect to have quite the fight over this one (and i'll pay cash if it comes to that, i'd rather spend $500 than die of cervical cancer).
SO -- VACCINES AGAINST DEATH "R" GOOD. i would recommend this to anyone who intends or imagines having sexual contact. it's readily available. despite the press, you can get it if you are older (planned parenthood believes that people over 26 have sex, too) and the np i talked to seemed optimistic about the vaccine starting to act as a "barrier" in men between cases passed between heterosexual women.
it weirds me out that there was resistance against vaccinating the young because it "encouraged premature sex" or whatever, but weirder yet is the idea that women over 26 can't make the choice for a vaccine for safer sex. so i'm telling you, you can go off-label if you like. planned parenthood is on your side.
. there's no easy test for hpv. the way the test works at all is, you take a pap smear (aka some cells). if they're overtly normal, nobody generally frets. HOWEVER, you can culture the dna in the cells (or presumably penile cells by counterpart) to find the *unexpressed* viral dna in an infected but normally behaving cell. this also allows for viral-subtype analysis.
. regardless, gardasil (a vaccine) protects against 4 of the 20 or so hpv subtypes (6, 11, 16, 18). 16 and 18 cause 70% of cervical cancer cases, and 6 and 11 cause 90% of genital warts cases.
. but even if you haven't been tested, it's unlikely you carry all four of these viruses. so even if you've been sexually active for awhile, or even if you've had genital warts, it may be a good idea to get the vaccine if you don't want to get more warts or to reduce your chance of cervical cancer.
. and if you're not yourself female, you might still not want to get warts, nor to expose your partners to either warts or cancer-causing viruses that you don't already have.
. AND HERE'S THE IMPORTANT BIT: the fda has only really signed off on giving the vaccine to girls 9-12, who presumably have not yet been exposed. they're iffier but signed off for women up to age 26, too.
. BUT IT'S OKAY TO GET THE VACCINE EVEN IF YOU ARE OLDER OR NOT FEMALE. it's a killed-virus vaccine, and the mechanisms are well understood; it is unlikely to pose say a grown man any danger that it doesn't pose a little girl (say swelling at the injection site). IT'S ALSO LEGAL -- it's an "off-label use", but these can be and frequently are used for prescription drugs.
. AND -- the PLAN P DROP-IN CENTER in davis square will gladly give you gardasil, even if you're an old hag like me. they'll try to bill your insurance, though i expect to have quite the fight over this one (and i'll pay cash if it comes to that, i'd rather spend $500 than die of cervical cancer).
SO -- VACCINES AGAINST DEATH "R" GOOD. i would recommend this to anyone who intends or imagines having sexual contact. it's readily available. despite the press, you can get it if you are older (planned parenthood believes that people over 26 have sex, too) and the np i talked to seemed optimistic about the vaccine starting to act as a "barrier" in men between cases passed between heterosexual women.
it weirds me out that there was resistance against vaccinating the young because it "encouraged premature sex" or whatever, but weirder yet is the idea that women over 26 can't make the choice for a vaccine for safer sex. so i'm telling you, you can go off-label if you like. planned parenthood is on your side.
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no subject
Date: 2007-02-04 01:21 am (UTC)What I don't get -- why do doctors over-diagnose? They over treat, over diagnose, and pretty much freak out about abnormal pap smears, or at least they did a few years ago when I and many of my friends were first diagnosed. One girl I know was subjected to an extremely painful electric shock treatment of some sort in her uterus. I was biopsied without a local anaesthetic and told that it wouldn't hurt, which was utterly insane, and then within 6 months the spot cleared up by itself and the following pap smear was absolutely normal. A nurse told me that vitamic C helped to clear it, and another nurse told me that the cancer takes years and years to develop, and can be easily caught and prevented with regular checkups.
I'm glad there's a vaccine. Does anyone know if it does anything for people who already have a form of the virus? This is one of those STDs I just don't understand. You hear so many different things, and even gynecologists don't seem to know what's going on.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-04 01:28 am (UTC)i've been under- more than over-diagnosed myself, but i'm guessing it's insurance-related -- they don't want to be sued for malpractice (malpractice insurance is the most expensive part of medical practice) for failing to do everything they possibly can. (i've also never had an abnormal pap, so i can't speak to that in particular.)
the viral subtypes are exclusive -- if you have one of the four types this addresses, it will still protect you against the other three, say. it won't affect the one you already have at all, nor the other types that the vaccine isn't designed for.
it does take time (variable, though) for cancer to develop. and since the vaccine only affects the forms of the virus responsible for 70% of cervical cancers, you do still need to get a pap to check for cancers that might have fallen into the other 30%. so yes, even with the vaccine there is still the need to have regular checkups.
i hate it when people say "this won't hurt" and then it does. i've had the worst experiences of that sort with dentists :/