HSV versus HPV

[Els]

The relative alarm is appropriate, as only a small percentage of HPV is even the kind that causes cervical cancer. If you don't have the potent kind, then you just don't have anything to be concerned over.

 

IF a guy somehow knew he had HPV upon beginning a relationship with a woman, she could get the fairly new HPV vaccine, and then she wouldn't be able to get the potentially harmful kind of HPV from him or from anyone else.

 

 

There is no such assurance with Herpes.

 

Guy better be willing to wait 1.5 years before having sex then.

[Eeyore79]

My ex got herpes from his first girlfriend; he said he had the initial outbreak aged 18, had another minor outbreak in his early twenties, and at the time we dated he was 30 and hadn't had another outbreak for eight years. I wasn't too worried about catching it because he so rarely had an outbreak. Of course, some people have painful outbreaks 3-4 times a year, and that's where the stigma comes from - herpes is generally seen as regularly occurring and painful.

 

Most people get a cold sore and it's a fairly minor thing, but my ex-neighbor had a particularly virulent strain which made her whole face and neck swell up, and she would end up ill in bed for a week every time. So I guess there are different strains of herpes, and some are more virulent than others.

 

If someone tells me they have herpes, much depends on how virulent it is. I'd have no problem dating someone who had a mild outbreak every few years, but if someone was having bad outbreaks every few months I really wouldn't want to catch that particular strain.

[SincereOnlineGuy]

Guy better be willing to wait 1.5 years before having sex then.

 

 

What prevents the clueless from proactively getting the HPV vaccine prior to the 10 months they're going to spend trashing men on LoveShack just before before they whimsically start to invest their feelings in the next poorly-chosen (potential) partner in their real worlds?

 

At some point it should dawn on the clueless that men have very little incentive to care about HPV. That alone should be motivation enough for women to get vaccinated in proactive manner.

[threebyfate]

There are over 100 strains of HPV where one of the vaccines only protects against 2 and the other 4 strains. So that leaves 96 - 98 strains free to invade on contact.

 

p.s. One of the vaccines will guard men against two forms of genital warts so you might want to run out and get it before the unsightly mounds show up.

 

They're also only recommended for females 9 - 25 years old who haven't been exposed to HPV.

Edited March 9, 2011 by threebyfate

[Stung]

What prevents the clueless from proactively getting the HPV vaccine prior to the 10 months they're going to spend trashing men on LoveShack just before before they whimsically start to invest their feelings in the next poorly-chosen (potential) partner in their real worlds?

 

At some point it should dawn on the clueless that men have very little incentive to care about HPV. That alone should be motivation enough for women to get vaccinated in proactive manner.

 

 

Well, what prevented me personally from getting the HPV vaccine was that I was one of the millions of women already older than 25 when it came out. You know, we date and have sex, too, but the vaccine is not recommended for us and insurance won't cover it.

 

Okay, I don't date, as I am happily married. Which fortunately prevents me from trashing men all over Loveshack and whimsically investing emotionally in poorly-chosen men.

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

This is why you should practice safe sex. Always.

[Girlygirl1977]

There are over 100 strains of HPV where one of the vaccines only protects against 2 and the other 4 strains. So that leaves 96 - 98 strains free to invade on contact.

 

p.s. One of the vaccines will guard men against two forms of genital warts so you might want to run out and get it before the unsightly mounds show up.

 

They're also only recommended for females 9 - 25 years old who haven't been exposed to HPV.

 

I have a friend who worked for the drug company which created the vaccine which guards against the 4 strains. It guards against the strains most likely to cause warts and the two most likely to cause cervical cancer. They find that the overwhelming majority of warts are caused by a limited number of about 2 types and the same for cervical cancer. Most of the many other strands do not produce either warts or cancer in most cases.

 

Again -if you do not have HPV (which they test women for at least the most likely ones to cause cancer), you are able to be vaccinated. This is what my friend did and I did too. The recommendation was only an attempt to cover who they think might fall into this. Keep in mind they do not check young women for HPV either since for the most part most young women will get it and their body will fight it off. Why would I not proactively get vaccinated (especially if men are unlikely to know if they have it or get checked for it)?

 

And my insurance even covered it though I'm over 25 (this is bc my insurance still sees a value to it).

[threebyfate]

I have a friend who worked for the drug company which created the vaccine which guards against the 4 strains. It guards against the strains most likely to cause warts and the two most likely to cause cervical cancer. They find that the overwhelming majority of warts are caused by a limited number of about 2 types and the same for cervical cancer. Most of the many other strands do not produce either warts or cancer in most cases.

I don't disagree that they've targeted a "most" scenario. But this doesn't cover the balance 96 - 98+ strains that can and do manifest which account for at least 30% of the problems. This gives people a false sense of security so it's best that people understand it's not a guarantee.

 

Again -if you do not have HPV (which they test women for at least the most likely ones to cause cancer), you are able to be vaccinated. This is what my friend did and I did too. The recommendation was only an attempt to cover who they think might fall into this. Keep in mind they do not check young women for HPV either since for the most part most young women will get it and their body will fight it off. Why would I not proactively get vaccinated (especially if men are unlikely to know if they have it or get checked for it)?

 

And my insurance even covered it though I'm over 25 (this is bc my insurance still sees a value to it).

It wouldn't surprise me if in many jurisdictions this is possible. But I do have to ask why any woman over 25 would get a vaccine that's not been tested on their age category. Until this has been done, I wouldn't do it and wouldn't advise other women to do so.

 

On the otherhand, I'm not too worried about HPV since I'm married. Of course people will now run in and say "what if he's cheating and you don't know about it?". Since there are no guarantees of fidelity unless you can read someone else's mind, wouldn't it make sense to be more careful? My response to that is, I trust him implicitly and pragmatically speaking, wouldn't risk an untested (26+) vaccine.

[Girlygirl1977]

I agree with most of what you said. I did go forward with it because I wasn't too much older than the age range, but moreso because my friend was involved with the creation of the vaccine and she is a couple of years older than me, very intelligent, risk averse, and already received the vaccine.

 

We all work with the information we have and make decisions from there.

Edited March 9, 2011 by Girlygirl1977