Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

HPV vaccine cuts risk of dying from cervical cancer before 30

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 188 posts

Re: HPV vaccine cuts risk of dying from cervical cancer before 30

#161

Post by yamillove »

naturalmovement wrote: post #86
nikolay wrote: post #40

My oldest daughter almost died from the first Gardasil, so you may not die from cervical cancer, but die from something else. I am not against vaccines; my kids are all fully vaccinated on a spaced-out schedule and not taking more than one shot in at least 2 months, and so am I, but the HPV vaccine was not mandatory, so, given the experience and the similar genetics, we didn't do it for the other two kids. Yeah, ther…

I find it extremely troubling that this comment detailing your very personal experience was flagged because it went against a prescribed narrative.

[flagged]

Re: HPV vaccine cuts risk of dying from cervical cancer before 30

#162

Post by orwin »

For information (for men who think this doesn't apply for them especially), some strains of HPV have very inconvenient dermatological effects that can leave scars on your thighs, bother you when walking and make masses that are quite ugly and might bother your partner. I had those effects for ~3 years.

If you are a young man not vaccinated yet and sexually active, you should get the vaccine if you can.

Re: HPV vaccine cuts risk of dying from cervical cancer before 30

#163

Post by orwin »

apparent wrote: post #109
QuiEgo wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HPV spreads even when condoms are used - any skin to skin contact can spread it. So yeah, not everyone, but it’s exceptionally prevalent. Luckily most strains are relatively harmless.

It is exceptionally prevalent, but that's not the same as everyone who is sexually active has it. There are plenty of people who do not put themselves at risk prior to getting married and are then faithful to their spouses.

Some strain survive on toilet seats or in sauna/hammams.

Re: HPV vaccine cuts risk of dying from cervical cancer before 30

#164

Post by moralestapia »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #83
moralestapia wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the data. 4,462 out of the whole population (of women etc.). Would you subjectively describe that number as "almost zero"?

> Would you subjectively describe that number as "almost zero"? Sure. If the only effect were on under-30s, this wouldn’t be a great vaccine. What 5,000 people is good for, however, is confidently measuring decline in a cohort. Zero deaths, even against a baseline of tens, strongly implies this should cross into the tend or hundreds of thousands over the next decades in populations that keep vaccination rates up.

>Zero deaths

It's not zero deaths though, it's "almost zero".

Re: HPV vaccine cuts risk of dying from cervical cancer before 30

#165

Post by wat10000 »

TZubiri wrote: post #92
wat10000 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AIDS was killing over 40,000 people per year in the US at its peak. It’s now almost 10x lower despite a significantly larger population. I don’t think there’s some other STD killing tens of thousands per year to fill that gap.

That's a good counterargument Reiterating my claim to focus on how your claim relates to it: "I fear that we have a risk budget, so when STD risk is reduced via a cure or prophylaxis, humans increase the amount of sex they have until the STD rate stabilizes again." You mention: " I don’t think there’s some other STD killing tens of thousands per year to fill that gap." They of course look contradictory at first glanc…

Chlamydia is easily treated so I don't see that really being related to your idea. Is there any evidence of incurable STDs becoming substantially more prevalent in recent decades to make up for the massive drop in HIV? It's been more than 30 years since the peak, so if it takes 20 years for people to get "cocky" then there's been plenty of time for it to happen by now.

Re: HPV vaccine cuts risk of dying from cervical cancer before 30

#166

Post by toomuchtodo »

pyuser583 wrote: post #146
toomuchtodo wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a parent, you cannot control when your child becomes sexually active and potentially exposed to HPV (at which point vaccination is less effective based on HPV strain). Therefore, it behooves you to protect them with a vaccine before potential exposure, as the vaccine risk is very low, based on all available data. I cannot imagine what it would feel like to face your child who experiences cancer that could’ve been…

What age do you recommend they be vaccinated?

Lower age bound for Gardasil 9 is nine years old. That is when I had my kids vaccinated for it at their pediatrician.

https://www.gardasil9.com/

Re: HPV vaccine cuts risk of dying from cervical cancer before 30

#167

Post by kstrauser »

apparent wrote: post #14
alistairSH wrote: post #13

Reducing deaths is great, but shouldn’t they also mention the reduction in treatment (which is usually surgical or chemo, both of which are massively expensive, traumatic, and life altering in negative ways).

They could do that, but given how low the base rate is, the reduction in number of procedures (and the resulting negative impacts on the women) would be incredibly low. It seems the base rate for cervical cancer deaths under 30 was already near zero.

I don’t think that’s right. I know 2 women well enough that they shared with me having been diagnosed with cervical dysplasia, diagnosed via Pap smear, in their late 20s. Both had a procedure to freeze off the affected cells and were later declared cured.

My understanding of it is that this is extremely freaking common as far as medical issues go, because women, much more so than men, are more likely to go in for routine screening when they’re suppose to, and these these get frequently found before they become major issues.

One could reasonably argue that nearly every ablation treatment for cervical dysplasia is a cancer treatment, just a very early one that isn’t drastically life-affecting. And if so, the number of cervical cancer incidents would be ginormous higher than deaths from it.

And ask any woman who’d gone through and paid for cervical ablation, and I bet 99 of 100 would choose to have gotten a preventative shot, except for the 1 idiot in every group.

Re: HPV vaccine cuts risk of dying from cervical cancer before 30

#168

Post by kstrauser »

apparent wrote: post #109
QuiEgo wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HPV spreads even when condoms are used - any skin to skin contact can spread it. So yeah, not everyone, but it’s exceptionally prevalent. Luckily most strains are relatively harmless.

It is exceptionally prevalent, but that's not the same as everyone who is sexually active has it. There are plenty of people who do not put themselves at risk prior to getting married and are then faithful to their spouses.

I despise that line of thinking. It completely ignores incidents of things like date rape. Jane Pristine gets assaulted by her high school boyfriend but doesn’t tell anyone because that’s how it commonly plays out. Joe Angel marries Jane and gets the HPV she got from her ex. Jane dies of cervical cancer. Joe, the widower, marries Jill Virginal and she gets HPV from him.

Not one of them did anything wrong, but all got it. Yes, not everyone who’s sexually active has HPV, but even people abiding by what I assume are the Biblical principles we’re discussing here (because abstinence is nearly only a religious thing and we’re talking about it on a heavily American website) can be affected, even without disobeying the laws they try to follow.

Re: HPV vaccine cuts risk of dying from cervical cancer before 30

#169

Post by pfdietz »

somenameforme wrote: post #156
pfdietz wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So use the current rate, which is 2.2 per 100,000. The argument is basically the same. The cost/benefit ratio is so good that your quibbles don't change the conclusion.

Do you understand the problem I'm describing? You are saying that women who got cervical cancer essentially died at birth. You need to look at years of life lost. Cervical cancer has a low frequency, high survivability, and disproportionately effects women in later age. You also need to factor in the efficacy of the vaccines, which will not be 100%. The years of life lost/saved will end up most likely being in the da…

Let me shoot right back and ask if you understand what I was saying.

Yes, I understood what you are saying. I was making a crude argument, but the crude argument showed benefit something like 18-36x the cost. The points you are making would reduce the benefit, but not by a factor anywhere close to 18.

Re: HPV vaccine cuts risk of dying from cervical cancer before 30

#170

Post by dennis_jeeves2 »

jrmg wrote: post #128
dennis_jeeves2 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

This is a ridiculous statement. No one is developing a vaccine for something they don’t even know the rate of incidence of.

You'd be surprised at things that are deemed necessary when money is to be made.
Post reply on HN