How many more will now be protected?

This morning I brought F1-1 (the oldest, male) and F1-3 (the youngest, female) to the doctor, for their annual well-child checkup. They are both doing fine. The oldest is 15 percentile for weight, 75 percentile for height (tall and thin), while the youngest is 15 percentile for both (short and thin). But perfectly healthy.

I discussed my wishes with the doctor, and she agreed it would be a good idea to immunize the oldest (he's 12) with Gardasil. The nurse came in, looked at the two kids in the room and asked in a very surprised voice who the Gardasil was for.

You see, Gardasil is a vaccine that is recommended and FDA approved for girls 9 years and older. It prevent infection with certain strains of human papilloma virus (HPV) that can cause genital warts and cervical cancer. Boys don't have a cervix, so, they don't need the vaccine, right? But who spreads HPV? Isn't it the boys who go from one girl to the next who spread it? In my opinion, both sexes need to be immunized. By the, I think that prevention of genital warts is reason enough, but prevention of spread to girls who then become at risk for cervical cancer, makes it a no-brainer to me. By the way, it appears that the virus causes not only genital and rectal warts in men, but also penile cancer.

I explained this to my son, and he agreed that it would be a good idea. Frankly, in my opinion, my 12-year old is not even close to being ready for sex, but that can change in a short time-span, and I don't really expect he will come tell me when he is. But I do want him and his future partners to be protected.

I explained it to the nurse too, and understanding came over her like a wave crashing on the beach. She told me she has three sons, and she will have them immunized too. I wonder, how many girls will be protected from getting the virus from these 4 boys?

Needless to say, my insurance will not cover the shot, because it is recommended for girls only (whoever thought that one up? Way to go!). At $251 per shot, and 3 shots needed in a 6-month period, it is also rather expensive. Still, it needs to be done. And the powers that be had better realize quickly that to protect the population, both sexes need to be immunized. In my opinion, not immunizing both boys and girls is rather sexist.

Small victory?

Earlier this week, while waiting for F1-2 to finish his therapy session, I talked to another parent who was doing the same. He told me he was considering discontinuing immunization of his son. I talked to him for almost half an hour, and I think I've convinced that's not a good idea. If he is concerned about his son getting so many at the time, he can always spread out the immunizations. He and his wife seem like very dedicated parents to me, so they don't mind going back to the doctor more often to give their son all his shots. I had some help from another parent too, so I cannot take all the credit for this. It is good to know that he will make the best choice for his kid and protect him and others around him from some very serious diseases.

Broken record

That's what I'm starting to sound like: vaccinate your children. Three cases of measles have been reported in Alachua County, Florida, all of which in people who were not immunized. One of the cases concerns a student at the University of Florida, who has been in contact with the Hare Krishna's providing food to students at the busy Plaza of the America's on campus. The Hare Krishna's have been asked to suspend their services for a few days to ensure no further spreading of the disease is possible. One of the other cases concerns a student of Santa Fe Community College, also in Alachua County.

The only way this outbreak was possible, is because people were not immunized, and if you live in that area, you're only at risk if you're not immunized. On the one hand, I don't want people to start panicking unnecessarily, on the other hand, I hope this has some impact on those who are trying to convince parents not to immunize their kids.

Update May 8: There are now 4 confirmed cases.

Vaccinate your children

When F1-2 was tentatively diagnosed with autism 4 years ago, I encountered the argument that mercury in vaccines was a contributing factor (in addition to the argument that gluten/casein sensitivities were). I read articles, surfed the web, contacted the local autism center and got more information. I decided that there was no evidence that mercury had anything to do with autism. And even if there was just the minutest of changes, the risks involved in not properly immunizing my child were much, much greater. I went ahead and F1-2 received all his immunizations as scheduled. F1-3 was born 3 years later, and received all of hers too. Here is a painful reminder of what life was like before there were immunizations. This is *not* for the weak of heart. Yes, as with any medical procedures there are risks involved in having your child vaccinated. However, autism is not one of them. And the benefits far, far outweigh the risks. In addition, every child that is not immunized out there, increases the risk of new outbreaks. Scary, scary stuff.