DW Community Catch-up Thread
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The reason it isn’t recommended fo women past the age of 26 is becasue you’ve most likely encountered the strains of HPV before, so the vaccine wouldn’t be effective. Most health insurance won’t cover it, so it can be pretty expensive. However, some doctors still recommend it if you’re older and have a low number of sexual partners (for example a recently divorced woman who only had one sexual partner). Here’s an interesting article about the vaccine: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/06/left-out-why-is-it-so-hard-for-older-women-to-get-the-hpv-vaccine/258611/
I have a high risk strain that isn’t covered by the vaccine, so I would still have it even if I was vaccinated at the time. However, I decided to get the vaccine to prevent getting any additional strains. My insurance covers it fortunately.
I got the HPV vaccine when I was 25 because I was still a virgin, it was paid for by insurance, and my mom had just been diagnosed with cervical cancer (which can be caused by HPV). Cannot recommend it highly enough.
Agreed that it’s worth the cost! I was too old to get it by one year once it came out, and I got two different types of HPV (warts and the kind where I needed a colposcopy) after only sleeping with 3 guys. It’s worth the money to save the headache of going the doctor for these sorts of things, and of course your health is priceless.
The CDC says that the HPV vaccine is just as effective 10 years in as it was when administered. There is no evidence that the HPV vaccine becomes less effective over time, and there are no booster shots. I know this because I just Googled it after y’all freaked me out talking about it getting less effective. I got mine as a virginal high schooler, and I’m slutting around >10 years later, so it’s good to know I’m protected. I did contract a harmless strain of HPV about three years ago, though. It was very mild and went away pretty quickly. There are over 100 different strains of HPV, so you still can get HPV, but it’s much less likely to be one of the warts- or cancer-causing kinds.
@shakeourtree I was reading the National Cancer Institute site about HPV (HPV Vaccines on NCI site ). On there it states: “To date, protection against the targeted HPV types has been found to last for at least 8 years with Gardasil (19) and at least 9 years with Cervarix (20). The duration of protection with Gardasil 9 is not yet known. Long-term studies of vaccine efficacy that are still in progress will help scientists better understand the total duration of protection.”
It is pretty scary that there are over 100 different strains, but it’s also nice to know there’s a vaccine that will help with preventing about 10% of them, some of which are very high-risk.
I still believe women who are older, while it’s kind of expected that we have settled down and have one partner, should still get the shot if they’ve never had it. You never know if your partner may cheat, if you may cheat, if there’s a breakup and you start seeing someone else, etc. Life happens.
Personally, the vaccine came out when I was about 24 and at that time I didn’t realize the importance until it became too late for me to get it under 26. I also didn’t know why the cutoff age was 26, but now that I know why…well, I certainly should still be eligible for it. This is good news!
I was IDK 28 or 29 when it came out, the HPV shot. I asked my doctor if I should get one and she said no… because of my age. So… I dunno.
In other news, I’ve since had it. So there’s that.
There’s so many strains of HPV out there. Of course not all of them affect the same parts of the body. I had a plantar wart once, and it really sucked. I had to get it removed right before prom.
I was 20 when it came out, but I got it when I was 23/24, right after I got diagnosed with one of the strains. I hate how they can’t even diagnose which strain you get, it’s a waiting game. So frustrating.
