Sexual Health Buzz

A girl’s attempt to gain U.S. citizenship may be derailed by refusal to have the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Simone Davis, a 17-year-old girl born in Britain, seeks to become a U.S. citizen but is confronted by immigration laws mandating that she receive the HPV vaccine that protects against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus commonly attributed to cervical cancer.

This vaccine requirement stems from the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act, which mandates that prior to being granted permanent resident status, immigrants must receive all vaccines recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). In 2008, however, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated the list of vaccines required of immigrants to include HPV, a move criticized by a number of advocacy groups who say the mandate places undue burden on those seeking to enter the U.S., and in particular, to women and girls.

Some organizations and advocate groups that focus on immigrant rights and women’s health have questioned the necessity of forcing individuals to receive the vaccine considering that HPV isn’t communicable in public settings. Of the 14 required vaccines, 13 of which aim to prevent infectious diseases considered highly contagious, Gardasil alone targets a sexually transmissible virus. Another worry is that cost may pose unfair financial burden placed on women, possibly acting as a significant financial barrier to seeking citizenship (the vaccine costs $360, plus clinic fees).

Simone protests the HPV vaccine for several reasons; her story reported by abcnews.com. As a devout Christian, Simone has taken a virginity pledge and doesn’t understand she why she should be required to take the vaccine when she doesn’t believe herself to be at risk. Her guardian and paternal grandmother, whom Simone calls “Nanny,” was also upset by this mandate and filed a waiver to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on moral and religious grounds but was rejected. Now facing the possibility of being separated from her Nanny, with only 30 days to appeal the decision before she must reapply as an adult (which requires a five year wait to become eligible for citizenship), Simone questions why none of her American classmates were required to take the HPV vaccine. Simone’s Nanny claims the issue is not simply about religion, and instead highlights their desire to have the same rights of any U.S. citizen.

Deborah Arrindell, ASHA’s vice-president of health policy, says “This vaccine has enormous potential to protect women’s health, no one’s debating that. What’s troubling is the requirement extends only to immigrants, and doesn’t apply to U.S. citizens. One has to question just how much public health is advanced by requiring the vaccine for a such a narrow segment of the population.” Jon Abramson, chairman of the CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices when the body recommended the vaccine for U.S. citizens last year, further purports that this policy is “not a good idea.”

There are some indications, however, that the HPV vaccine requirement may be reconsidered. Within the month CDC is expected to release new criteria to determine which vaccines should be mandated for U.S. immigrants. Whether this new criteria will affect Simone Davis’ situation, or the lives of other female immigrants, has yet to seen.

HPV and Cervical Cancer Prevention, HPV Vaccines

More HPV Information

You can also talk about HPV here

Experimental HIV Vaccine Prevents Infection in Nearly 1/3 of Subjects

Researchers optimistic, but questions remain

On Thursday, September 24, 2009, The Surgeon General of the U.S. Army released results from the Thai Phase III HIV vaccine study that demonstrated modest results in preventing HIV infection among participants in the clinical trial. The study found the vaccine regimen to be safe and 31 percent effective in preventing HIV infection.

The potential breakthrough comes after several failed vaccine trials; many scientists believed an HIV vaccine might not be possible. For the first time, however, the Thai Phase III study used the combination of two vaccines, Sanofi Pasteur’s ALVAC vaccine and the AIDSVAX B/E vaccine, developed by Vaxgen Inc. and licensed to the nonprofit Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases (GSID) in 2008. The research was sponsored jointly by the U.S. Army and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), along with Sanofi Pasteur and GSID.

The study, conducted in two Thai provinces, began in October 2003 and involved approximately 16,402 HIV-negative subjects ages 18-30 at various levels of risk for HIV infection. Trial participants were evenly divided into groups and received either the vaccine or placebo upon enrollment in the study and again after 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months. Participants were counseled on HIV risk reduction strategies and tested for the virus twice a year for three years. Among the 8,197 subjects who received the combination of vaccines, 51 contracted HIV during the study. This compares to 74 of the 8,198 participants in the placebo group who became infected with the virus. Those who became HIV-positive during the study have been offered treatment at no cost.

In a press release, Anthony S Fauci, M.D. and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, acknowledges these new findings as “an important step forward in HIV vaccine research,” but cautions that “additional research is needed to better understand how this vaccine regimen reduced the risk of HIV infection.”

The United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS estimates that 7,000 people worldwide are newly infected with HIV everyday; 2 million people died of AIDS in 2007. There is much to consider regarding future HIV vaccine research. Yet, after more than two decades, the search for a safe, effective vaccine that protects against HIV infection has made an encouraging advance.

HIV AND AIDS Questions & Answers

More HIV Information

You can also talk about HIV here

These are the posts that you guys were most interested in last month.

Getting the H1N1 Vaccine?

I am having my doubts on the H1N1 vaccine. I don’t think our family will be participating in it this time. We are definitely going to get the regular flu shot.

You Are Beautiful Inside And Out

Positive and encouraging is what it’s all about. :]

The Bathroom And Herpes

This topic comes up A LOT.

I think the thing that people need to remember is that you are not going to contract herpes from a toilet seat. As far as sharing towels go – why would you share a towel with someone anyway?

In an encouraging development, an investigational vaccine regimen has been shown to be well-tolerated and to prevent HIV infection in a clinical trial involving more than 16,000 adult participants in Thailand.

Following a final analysis of the trial data, the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, the trial sponsor, announced today that the prime-boost investigational vaccine regimen was safe and 31 percent effective in preventing HIV infection.

“These new findings represent an important step forward in HIV vaccine research,” says Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, which provided major funding and other support for the study.

“For the first time, an investigational HIV vaccine has demonstrated some ability to prevent HIV infection among vaccinated individuals. Additional research is needed to better understand how this vaccine regimen reduced the risk of HIV infection, but certainly this is an encouraging advance for the HIV vaccine field.”

For more information – Talk about clinical trials and vaccine research – Talk about HIV – More HIV Information

Hi! I came across your website looking up the proper information for my boyfriend on herpes since I have it and he doesn’t.

I wanted to let you know I think what you are doing is great! I also wanted to let you know in reference to oral sex women can buy dental dams (they are latex or latex free sheets that almost act like a condom so a man can “go down” on you without having to worry about contracting your herpes!) I buy mind on the website undercovercondoms.com and they come flavored and unflavored!

I am finally in a relationship where I’m being 100% honest with my partner about everything and we are protecting him! In the past the men I have told haven’t really taken it seriously and have decided to not protect themselves. And it took me a long time to tell people, I was scared of the judgment I would receive and the wrong person knowing and telling everyone! So I didn’t tell some people either and now look back on it and feel soooooo bad about it! I will make sure not to make that mistake again!

But….. I just wanted to say from a woman who has had herpes for 11 years I appreciate all that you are doing! I know how it feels to be lost and scared and “not beautiful” because of this disease and I hope they do perfect that vaccine!!

All the best!

~Anonymous

More Inspirational Stories

I’d be interested in hearing from some healthcare professionals out there and what their take is on H1N1.

Last year our entire family got flu shots. It turns out that even though we had flu shots, they missed the mark on the type of flu that was going around. So we wound up getting flu shots for nothing.

Now people are all a buzz about the H1N1 flu that is on it’s way to our schools, day cares, work places, and anything in a public setting. Everybody is running-a-muck on what to do should this pandemic hit us and what to do with our families.

First of all, I’m not so sure I want to get the flu shots OR the H1N1 vaccine this year. I’m not so sure it’s going to be the right thing. Watch the video and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Ok, now I want to hear from you. Are you planning on getting the flu shots, the H1N1 vaccine or both? Why or why not? Thanks!

Mistakes

A poison runs through my veins

After all the dirt and anguish

Of the days aftermath is washed away

After I step into that warm steady stream

And scrub away the filth … still an infection

Runs through my blood

No matter the vaccine or energy wasted

On trying it stays although it does not kill

Me … I wish it would.

To not have to deal with

The stigma or discomfort of this toxin

To fear another’s love or touch of my skin

In fear I might spread this venom I keep searching

For the antidote to help what wears on my spirit

Tampering with my soul.

Looking at the past when I was

So free and healthy now I’m shackled by this poison that

Follows me through my years … trapped in this whole new world

Turned upside down.

To think you’re invisible until it finds you.

To not have a care in the world and think your untouchable

And then your touched … you cannot change what you’ve done

And it cannot be undone but now all to do is to just move forward and

Lessen the pain that this brings and learn to live with it.

Written by dealwitat18

Talk about this poem

Recent results of a Phase III clinical trial involving Gardasil, a vaccine against four strains of human papillomavirus (HPV), indicate that the vaccine may help prevent genital warts in boys and men. Results of the study, funded by Merck, the manufacturer of Gardasil, were presented earlier this month at the annual meeting of the European Research Organization on Genital Infection and Neoplasia (EUROGIN).

Currently in the U.S., Gardasil is only approved for use in for girls and women aged 9-26. Yet while the vaccine provides protection against two strains of HPV associated with 70 percent of cervical cancer in females, it also protects against strains of HPV that cause genital warts that HPV Newseffect both males and females. The study evaluated approximately 4000 males between 16 through 23 years of age. Study participants received either three doses of Gardasil at regular intervals or a placebo. All participants were followed for 36 months. At the time of vaccination, participants had no evidence of genital lesions, no history of genital warts and five or fewer lifetime sexual partners.

Participants who were vaccinated with Gardasil were approximately 90 percent less likely to develop genital warts than those that received a placebo. No study participants experienced any serious side effects related to vaccination. Merck intends to submit a supplemental Biologics License Application for Gardasil to the FDA by the end of 2008 for the use of the vaccine in boys and men ages 9 to 26 for the prevention of genital warts.

ASHA’s fact sheet on HPV vaccines addresses some of the most common questions about Gardasil and other vaccines in development. ASHA’s website also offers recent data on the safety of Gardasil.

Talk about HPV

I came across a couple of YouTube clips where Fran Drescher is on promoting her CancerSchmancer.org site.

She was saying in the clips that it’s been seven years that she has been free and clear of cancer. She also thinks that everyone should have the HPV Vaccine. If everybody would have the HPV vaccine then we wouldn’t have to worry about the HPV virus turning into cancer.

Personally, I think it’s kinda cool that Fran Drescher is putting a famous face to the HPV virus as well as Cervical Cancer.

Visit our HPV Forum

From the Feedback Form

First off, thank you for the website and work you do. I’m 3 months into being diagnosed with Herpes and HPV and still can’t see much hope sometimes. It’s weird how hit and miss the emotions are.

I have a girlfriend, who is a virgin, and I’ve told her. It was incredibly difficult, but it was actually 2 weeks after I told her when we began dating. There are amazing people. I intend to marry her if she’ll have me, and she knows that too. We will not have sex until we get married either, if that is the case.

I want to know if there are stories of married people with children where one partner has herpes and the other doesn’t, long term. I need to know it can be done, otherwise I don’t know if I can put her at that risk.

I’m also a bit worried about Gardasil regarding the HPV – have you heard much about the adverse reactions?

From Angela aka Yoshi2me

You are more than welcome to check out our Herpes Telling Story if you’d like. The questions were answered by my husband. He answered the questions not too long after I told him that I had genital herpes when we were dating.

We’ve been married for 7 years now and as far as we know, he has not contracted herpes from me.

My 16 year old recently had her first round of the HPV Vaccine. So far all is well and there have been no side effects for her. The shot is a 3 part one and she’ll go back in a couple of months to have round 2 done.

I think they are going to start encouraging that parents have their girls vaccinated before they begin Junior High. I think it’s a good idea and plan to have my now 4 year old and 2 year old vaccinated when they reach that age.