Are there any doctors on here who have had patients take gardasil? this vaccine is very new to me even though its been around awhile, and i am not shore if its a safe bet to try. have yet to be diagnose w/ any type of std yet so as far as i know i am in

I'm : I'm a pediatrician, and judging from your question you are in the over 18 category! but, i just wanted to add a little to the great answer given by dr. Alvin bay lin. In pediatrics, we do routinely recommend Gardasil (against human papillomavirus) to both boys and girls. All hpv vaccines thus far are licensed for 9 - 26 year olds, as mentioned, and in pediatrics we typically target the 11 or 12 year old visit to give this. It is very important to have this shot administered before a child or adult is sexually active to have an effect; once a person is infected with a certain strain of hpv the vaccine will not help prevent that infection. Gardasil is specifically licensed to protect against 4 types of hpv - 2 which can cause genital warts and 2 which can cause cervical or penile cancer. There are other products on the market that only protect against 2 strains; in my state the vaccines for children program is covering Gardasil specifically so that is what we use. These shots need to be given at 0, 2 and 6 months (at a minimum) and they cost ~ $300 per shot in our state, so i definitely recommend parents have their children vaccinated before they are too old to be covered by the parent's (or medicaid) insurance. Side effects for this vaccine have been mild - like any other shot, you can have redness, swelling and pain at the site of the shot. There have been reports of slightly higher rates of fainting in our teenage girls! (i probably would have been in that group myself as a teenager). But most people do very well with this shot. If i assume you did have genital warts, then the chances are you are already exposed to at least one strain of hpv; this means the Gardasil vaccine may not be as effective in you as compared to others, but then it also could mean you're preventing three other types of hpv infection! so, in general, i would recommend it if you were my teenage patient! finally, for the adult women, it's important to remember that just because you get the Gardasil vaccine, you don't get out of the annual pap smear! it's important to have this screening done as recommended by your ob/gyn or general doctor. Good luck with the decision! sincerely - dr. Marney gundlach.

As : As a family physician, i recommend Gardasil to all appropriate patients, boys & girls 9-26yo, to prevent cervical and other genital cancers, anal cancer, and genital warts. There is some evidence that it may even be useful in women 27-45yo. The idea of the vaccine is to prevent the human papilloma virus (hpv) from increasing one's risk for various cancers. Once you've been infected by a specific cancerous strain, the vaccine doesn't do you any good against that particular strain. However, we still recommend it for patients who already have genital warts because the strains that cause genital warts aren't the same one's that cause cervical cancer. But rather than be reactive, we recommend being proactive. So yes, we recommend Gardasil for the appropriate patient. Unfortunately, Gardasil is also expensive (and requires a series of 3 shots) and isn't covered by many insurance plans. And even if it is covered, you may be subject to high copays and annual limits. Do i agree w/this? No. Luckily, there are some assistance programs if you qualify, one offered by the manufacturer and another from the federal government. Hope this helps! good luck!

I recommend: Drs grundlach and lin have great answers! just to add that currently about 57 million doses have been give with no proven serious side effects.And a very recent study has demonstrated a decrease in hpv infections of the targeted strains of about 60%. Good to immunize.