- I strongly disagree with that.
I just think that's a really weak argument
and it's choosing to close your eyes to reality,
dying of cervical cancer is definitely not the best choice
in that equation.
Hey, y'all welcome back, Mama Doctor Jones, OB-GYN,
a mom to four, today we're going through
some of the most common questions
that you had in the comment sections of both the HPV,
and HPV vaccination videos.
If you're not subscribed, and you like my videos,
hit that subscribe button and turn on notifications
so you never miss an upload.
Now let's answer your most common questions
about HPV and HPV vaccination.
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So this question was super common
and asked in a whole variety of different forms,
and it's basically here's my specific scenario,
is the HPV vaccine beneficial to me?
This one in particular is if someone is 34,
and has never been sexually active,
should they get the HPV vaccine?
This is exactly why along with a couple of other scenarios,
the FDA actually approved this vaccine up to 45
instead of stopping at 26, about a year and a half ago.
So yeah, I think that would definitely fit
into a category of someone who would benefit
from getting the vaccine later in life.
There are a whole bunch of other questions about,
you know how I'm this old, I've had sex, I haven't had sex,
I don't ever plan on having sex, all those things,
and these are more specific,
and I think are really good things to ask
your particular doctor or advanced practice provider.
So, if you've watched my first video,
my second video and this video and you still don't know
if you should get the vaccine,
talk to your doctor or advanced practice provider
to find out.
Question number two in the HPV vaccine video,
we talked about how initially when it came out,
it was what we call bivalent meaning it protected against,
the two most common and two most dangerous types of HPV,
and now it has nine types,
including those two most common, two most dangerous types,
as well as several other common types
that are slightly less associated with bad outcomes.
So, someone wants to know,
if I had the vaccine before it was nine,
it was two or four when I was vaccinated,
should I get the vaccine again?
And in general, we don't think that this makes sense.
Although there likely is some increased protection
from getting the vaccine
because it has the other types in it,
it's likely minimal because you're already protected against
the two most dangerous types,
and that is kind of where the cost effectiveness
and life changing effects come in.
So, although we do think that the nine-valent vaccine
is better, it's not so significantly better
that you should be re-vaccinated
and that's the current recommendation.
But again, talk to your doctor and ask them
what their opinion is and get advice from them.
This kind of leads into another really common question
that I saw, hello, thanks for doing this.
You're very welcome.
Is there a booster shot recommended
after you get the first series?
This vaccine has only been out for about 15 years,
so right now we know data on about 10 to 15 years,
and for now it looks like that protection in most people
sticks around at least that long.
So, we don't currently recommend any boosters for anyone
who has had the vaccine series in their lifetime,
that could always change,
but right now based on the data we have,
that's what we're recommending.
A lot of you were wondering,
okay, I got one vaccine or two vaccines
in the three vaccine series, should I start the series over?
We generally recommend that,
if someone has started the series but not completed it,
they can just jump in where they left off.
So, if you got one shot three years ago,
and you wanted to go ahead and get the last two,
then you're totally fine to go ahead and do that.
You don't have to restart with injection number one,
which is great news, right?
Someone wants to know,
if they've already had an HPV infection but it's cleared,
should they still be vaccinated?
This is super important,
there is some benefits still to getting vaccinated
even if you've already been exposed
or even diagnosed with HPV,
so yes, the vaccine is definitely still recommended
in that situation.
However, it's really important to know,
the vaccine does nothing for treatment or clearance
of the virus that you've already been diagnosed with.
So it won't help get rid of that,
it only prevents you from getting another subtype,
if you're exposed, feel like I'm talking with my hands a lot
in this video, it's not that exciting
it's just some questions.
You mentioned that this shot is painful,
I was wondering how the pain of the shot measures up
compared to normal vaccines.
I get nervous about pain, and I'm just curious.
I would say it's kind of 50-50, some people say,
it's about the same as other vaccines,
and some people say it's a lot worse than other vaccines,
but in general people still find it tolerable.
I mean, getting a vaccine is never fun,
like that's not on my list of things to do on my birthday.
It's not a pain that's like so severe
that I've had anybody like,
not come back for their second shot purely because of that.
Does that makes sense?
However, pain is a very individual thing
and everybody has different pain scales,
and different pain tolerances,
so it's really impossible for me to answer specifically,
if it will definitely be the same,
or a lot worse or whatever, but in general,
people say it hurts more than the average flu shot,
but it's still tolerable and doesn't prevent them
from coming back for their next one.
Hi, Mama Doctor Jones, you mentioned in this video
that the HPV vaccine is now also recommended for boys.
It has been recommended for boys
since about two and a half or three years
after it was first introduced.
Can you talk more about the benefits
of this vaccine for boys?
Me and my mom both got the HPV vaccine several years ago
when I was a teenager but my brother did not,
after watching this video,
I'm now wondering whether he should get the vaccine
as an adult male.
The vaccine is beneficial for people who have a penis
because they can also spread HPV.
It is helpful in reducing the viral load
in the general population.
Additionally, HPV is related to other types of cancers
that are not just cervical and vulvar cancers,
things like, penile cancers, anal cancers,
and oropharyngeal cancers.
It is both helpful to reducing the viral load
in the general population,
meaning you don't give it to other people
if you have it and don't know
and, it probably lowers the risk
of some of those other cancers for people
who can't get cervical cancer or vulvar cancer,
does that makes sense?
My parents don't want me to get the vaccine because my dad,
who's an anesthesiologist says that it may be dangerous
since it hasn't been out for long enough
for us to know the long term effects,
my parents also tell me that people have died
from the vaccine, is any of this true?
I address most of this in my previous video on the vaccine,
and there's no reason that anybody
who actually knows this literature
and knows the safety profile of this vaccine scientifically
from a medical standpoint should be saying that it is unsafe
or not well enough tested, I strongly disagree with that.
All I have to say to that is,
this is my specialty, I wouldn't recommend it
if I felt it wasn't safe, every major health organization,
World Health Organization, CDC, ACOG, ABOG,
American Academy of Family Practice,
all of these organizations recommend HPV vaccination
because it is both safe and effective
at preventing cervical cancer.
My parents also tell me that people have died
from the vaccine, is this true?
I have never seen a credible source,
meaning any of the scientific literature
that has found a causal relationship between the HPV vaccine
and dying, the exception to that would be,
if someone had a severe allergic reaction
or anaphylaxis to one of the ingredients in the vaccine,
which could be extremely dangerous,
those are the only things that I can even come up with,
that would lead to death related to the vaccine,
and that's possible with almost anything that you encounter
in your day to day life, eating peanuts can kill people.
I mean, this is how allergies and anaphylaxis works,
but yeah, I go over those side effects and that literature
in a lot more detail in the HPV vaccination video,
in the second section called the bad.
When my doctor brought up the vaccine, I was 17,
my mom shut it down immediately.
I didn't even get a say in the matter,
she said you don't need it easy solution, don't have sex?
How do you get a parent to even discuss this
with their child,
and how can doctors help advocate for their patient?
If a conversation like this comes up in my clinic,
I generally will try to talk to the parent,
just like I did in the last video saying,
you surely don't expect that your child will never have sex
in their whole life of course, that's hard to think about,
it's awkward, it's weird, but at the same time,
I want my kids to grow up into normal, healthy,
happy adults, and that includes a sexual relationship
at some point, most likely of course,
if they don't ever have sex,
well, that's great.
If that's what they desire,
and they'd rather not ever have sex, then that's fine,
but there's no reason that you should plan for them not to
because the truth to that is,
the vast majority of all humans on this planet
will end up being sexually active
at some point in their life.
I just think that's a really weak argument,
and it's choosing to close your eyes to reality.
How do we address that in clinic is exactly like I said,
it's just have a conversation,
because usually when you present it as,
do you really think in their whole life,
they'll never be sexually active?
Most parents will be like,
Well, yeah, of course, someday, they probably will.
And then the follow up to that is,
well, 80% of all people who are ever sexually active
will be exposed to HPV at some point,
even if they only have one or two partners
in their whole life.
So, it still makes sense to be protected,
because dying of cervical cancer
is definitely not the best choice in that equation.
Ashley says, not a question, thank you for doing the series
that is informative and relevant.
You provide a complete and honest information on this topic
that is stressful and impacts billions of people,
that is a really nice comment, and you're welcome,
and thank you to Karin who helps me
gather some of these comments and puts them in here
for putting that one in there because it is really nice
for me to see things like that occasionally,
especially on these videos that mean a lot to me,
but tend to get a lot Little lower views,
so I am so appreciative of you guys being here,
watching this, telling a friend, sharing the information,
sharing the video, whatever you're doing,
I appreciate it. Your support for me
and what I do on this channel, it warms my heart,
so thank you, I appreciate you, get your vaccine.
If you have any other questions,
feel free to leave them in the comment section below,
I will also link my last two videos on HPV itself
and the HPV vaccine, so if you haven't seen those
hop on over there and check them out,
be kind to yourself, to each other,
to me, in the comments behind and I will see you next time.
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