Can a vaccine prevent Cancer?

 

 Short answer -  Yes!

Most cervical cancers are associated with human papillomavirus (HPV).  It can spread through sex and from some types of skin-to skin-contact. Gardasil 9 is an HPV vaccine approved by the GOI and can be used for both girls and boys. This vaccine can prevent most cases of cervical cancer if the vaccine is given before girls or women are exposed to the virus. This vaccine can also prevent vaginal and vulvar cancer. In addition, the vaccine can prevent genital warts, anal cancers, and mouth, throat, head and neck cancers in women and men.

 

When exactly should the HPV vaccine be offered?

The recommendation is for HPV vaccine to be given to girls and boys between ages 11 and 12. It can be given as early as age 9. It's ideal for girls and boys to receive the vaccine before they have sexual contact and are exposed to HPV. The response to the vaccine is better at younger ages than it is at older ages.

The CDC recommends that all 11- and 12-year-olds receive two doses of HPV vaccine at least six months apart. Younger adolescents ages 9 and 10 and teens ages 13 and 14 also can receive vaccination on the two-dose schedule. Research has shown that the two-dose schedule is effective for children under 15.

Teens and young adults who begin the vaccine series later, at ages 15 through 26, should receive three doses of the vaccine.

 

Does the HPV vaccine offer benefits if you're already sexually active?

Yes. Even if you already have one strain of HPV, you could still benefit from the vaccine because it can protect you from other strains that you don't yet have. However, none of the vaccines can treat an existing HPV infection. The vaccines protect you only from specific strains of HPV you haven't been exposed to already.

 

Does the HPV vaccine carry any health risks or side effects?

The HPV vaccine has been found to be safe in many studies.

Overall, the effects are usually mild. The most common side effects of HPV vaccines include soreness, swelling or redness at the injection site.

 

What is the dosage for Gardasil Vaccine (HPV)?

Gardasil 0.5 ml is injected intramuscularly as three separate doses. The first dose is administered at the patient's convenience, the second dose two months after the first dose, and the third dose six months after the first dose.

 

Why is HPV vaccination recommended?

1. One out of 4 women who die of cervical cancer is from India.
2. Every seven minutes one woman dies of cervical cancer in India.
3. Cervical cancer kills roughly 67,477 Indian women annually.
4. Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) has been detected in 99.7% of all cases of Cervical Cancer worldwide.
5. This is the highest level of the associated pathogen known to be a major cause for a human form of Cancer.
6. HPV types 16 and 18 are responsible for 82% of cervical cancers in India.

Does it apply only to girls or do boys have to take it as well?

There is increasing evidence that boys are infected with HPV as well. MSD has launched the gender neutral Gardasil 9 in India. The rationale behind this is that the vaccine would prevent Genital warts, oral cancers, penile cancers, anal cancers and precancerous lesions, especially in homosexual identities. 
(https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/msd-india-launches-9-valent-human-papillomavirus-vaccine-gardasil9-11632914111895.html)

India has also launched its own vaccine under the name Cervivac made by the Serum Institute which brings down the cost considerably 

Do get in touch with me for any further information you may need. I'll be happy to help!

Meanwhile, here are some more newspaper articles for the movement currently on in India.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/is-hpv-vaccine-safe-for-my-daughter-yes/story-4gBa5z5rDtxREhNJ6lzzQP.html

https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/dear-indian-women-did-you-know-that-there-is-a-vaccine-for-cervical-cancer-3390860.html

IAP (Indian Association of Pediatricians) - https://acvip.org/parents/columns/cervical-cancer.php

Corporate India, Let's Get Vaccinated!

Tired of playing the fastest fingers first game? Can't see anything but red on the calendar? Are you the on of the unfortunate 18+ people who just can't seem to get a shot? Waiting for fly out of the country but haven't even got your first dose yet?

Well, it's here! Finally, after weeks of paper pushing, rubbing backs and oiling the machinery that runs this city, we've got systems in place to start corporate vaccinations for now. Individual vaccinations will still take a while but if you have the numbers, we can now source the vaccines! Kicking of corporate vaccinations from next week, we are in the process of obtaining a substantial amount of vaccines to serve blue collar India.

We're starting off with Covaxin as it's readily available and can start innoculations as early as next week. For now we would need a minimum number of people confirmed to even start the process so if you do work in an organisation that would like to get their employees vaccinated in the comfort of your own office/workspace and you have the numbers, we can get it done asap!

Do get in touch with me via Whatsapp and let's talk.

Is this Balance?

You would need to completely open up your minds to reading this one. If you feel you can’t, please stop right here, scroll to the bottom, hit like and share and move on. However, if you feel like you have some time (in this lockdown, what else do we have) or if you feel like you are capable of thinking beyond the ordinary, read on.

I am a man of science who thinks everything must have some logic and reason and don’t give too much into miracles and fate. I do believe in a higher power, but I’m not the kind to spend hours and lifetimes appeasing statues that are called God! I believe in faith but perhaps not so much in religion. I do believe, however, in the fact that we perhaps know much less than we give ourselves credit for. There are a lot of unexplored and undiscovered truths out there that continue to be labelled fiction just because we haven’t seen or experienced it yet. There are certainly things that happen that we don’t understand that are far too easily categorised into alien activity, miracles, tricks, magic, imagination, ghosts, paranormal activity and what have you.

 

Heavy enough for you yet! It gets better, I promise.

 

Let’s start off this passage with the assumption that we’re all living in an experiment that has gone horribly wrong (or perhaps out of control). This would have to start way back from before Darwin peed in his diapers! Dinosaurs – there’s a good place to start. Is it? Let’s push way back. Polar ice caps? The big bang? This is how limited we are in our knowledge. We just think we know but do we really? Wait, I’m going off track. Back to the beginning of the experiment.

 

Assume that we started off as single cell organisms (that’s what science would have us believe). Evolution happened and we grew a pair (pun intended). Multi-cellular beings with hyphae, antennae, digits, a spine, neurons firing in all directions, a brain to control it all and the power to kill. Oohhh, maybe we stole that one from the BFG. Animals, fish, birds, quadrupeds, bipeds, apes, humans!

 

Survival!

 

Let’s knit that all together now otherwise this could be as long as a book. Assume that we were all meant to be in balance with half of the good things on one side and half of the bad on the other. Wait, who decided what is good and bad. Anyway, let’s just divvy it up and move forward. Food chains – there is a balance that we can understand. Biggest eats smaller eats smaller eats smallest who eats energy from plants! (Thank you 5^th standard children that we were forced to teach at home).

 

Let’s assume that the person conducting this experiment gets bored every few years and wants a reset. This person then decides to shake up the game board and see who survive so we can play more. Perhaps this could explain the constant wipe-outs every few hundred years.  Wait, how would they get new players? That’s why they made us stupid. They gave us libido so we provide them with a constant supply of stupid. The need to procreate is the single biggest fault line in this game! When you have nothing to do, create! So, that’s what the powers that be must have done as well (we are all created in HIS image remember).

 

Did I lose track again? This is so fascinating! Right, we wipe out half the Earth and reset. The ice age, the dinosaurs, the tigers, the fish, the turtles, the pangolins and us humans. We feel that we have no right to die early, but we are stupid remember. We’re just pawns in this game (we even gave ourselves the name, pawns...who does that?)

 

So, if we assume that we are merely here to maintain a balance and if we really, really open our minds to it, would we still be surprised? Every few decades, since humans thought we took over the Earth, we have been systematically culled and wiped off and yet we insist on creating more and more of ourselves to deplete already depleting resources. They try to wipe us out with disease and we insist on finding cures or vaccines. If that doesn’t work, they give us greed to start wars. That almost worked until the last one but perhaps third time lucky? Then, we get new diseases and we make new treatments and vaccines only delaying the inevitable. Then come the natural disasters. We get earthquakes, typhoons, hurricanes, cyclones with weird names, volcanoes erupting, fires all over the place, landslides, floods and many more. We just keep coming up with ways to survive!

 

We think we will survive but if the balance has to be maintained, they will get us. We could beat a disease and walk out of the hospital only to be crashed into by an ambulance. Ironic! (the singer got it right) Try and defeat a pandemic by locking down and we get earthquakes breaking our homes and cyclones dropping trees on us. If we get enough vaccines, we will get reactions and side effects. If we survive this pandemic, religious wars will get enough of us. If we are to survive all of this, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear about WWIII or perhaps another drought or famine to wipe out a significant mass of people. 

Anyway you look at it, it’s time we accept that our board game can only handle so many pieces and the rest are going to fall off. Make the most of your time here, stop hoarding things that will only get destroyed by natural disasters or remain unused once we leave the realm. Hug your loved ones often, kiss your children, smile at strangers, be kind to animals, empathize with those that are suffering and sympathize with those that just don’t get it!!

Podcasting with Pops In A Pod

 For those who missed this, here is the link to the podcast I recorded with the guys at Pops In A Pod, a new age parenting podcast run by two dads out of Mumbai, who talk about various things to do with parenting and kids!

I was invited to share my views on the current pandemic, the vaccination process and the vaccines available in India, the second wave, the impending third wave and what we need to do to keep our kids safe and sane.

Do listen in and share and feel free to share feedback in the comment section below.

 @Popsinapod Episode 77

Positive after vaccination - How does it work?

We all have been eagerly waiting to get the vaccine to end the mayhem created by the corona virus. We would all like to believe that vaccination is the only way to stop the disease from spreading. Is that completely true, though?

As per the experts, vaccination doesn't mean the end of the virus. Vaccination solely guards your body against the dangerous effects of the virus. The infection can occur at any time, vaccination just helps in warding off the serious issues that it might trigger. People who have been vaccinated also need to abide by all safety measures to prevent contracting the virus. These people can even transmit the virus to others.

What this means is that for a vaccination to declare that is works, all it has to do is to prevent you from getting a severe infection. It may not prevent you from actually getting the virus in the future, although there are ongoing studies to prove just that. 

In the next few months, Pfizer and Moderna are expected to release data that should indicate how often vaccinated people become infected by the virus, even if they have no symptoms. The companies have been testing participants in their vaccine trials for antibodies to a protein called N that is part of the corona virus but not part of the vaccine. Finding those antibodies would mean that a vaccinated person has been infected by the virus.

So what exactly did they study when the made the vaccine?

The Pfizer and Moderna trials tracked only how many vaccinated people became sick with Covid-19. The study essentially took 2 groups and put them into a placebo group and a vaccine group and studied the risk of people getting sick with the corona virus without actually studying if the vaccine would prevent the infection in the first place.

 

Having said that, the vaccine will offer some protection from getting the virus. The way it works is this. The vaccine provokes the immune system of the receiver to make antibodies against the virus. Once the antibodies are formed, the immune system is primed to attack anything that remotely resembles the corona virus so that if you do get exposed and the virus does enter your system, it should be attacked by the antibodies.

 

How does this differ from immunity obtained after being infected?

In most respiratory infections, including the new corona virus, the nose is the main port of entry. The virus rapidly multiplies there, jolting the immune system to produce a type of antibodies that are specific to mucosa, the moist tissue lining the nose, mouth, lungs and stomach. If the same person is exposed to the virus a second time, those antibodies, as well as immune cells that remember the virus, rapidly shut down the virus in the nose itself before it gets a chance to take hold elsewhere in the body.

 

Vaccinated people may still harbour the virus in their nose and throat and these people who may not develop any symptoms could possibly be transmitting the virus without ever knowing it. It would only depend on whether the virus can replicate faster, or the immune system can control it faster.

 

What are breakthrough cases?

Breakthrough cases are those cases that test positive even after receiving the vaccine and can be either symptomatic or asymptomatic. This might occur in those people whose bodies cannot produce a robust reaction to a vaccine. Breakthrough infections are generally mild and do not require hospitalizations. Some people may have no symptoms at all and may be discovered only through testing. Absence of symptoms actually means that the vaccine is doing exactly what it is supposed to do: prevent people from getting sick, even if it does not fully block the virus from infecting them. If vaccinated people become silent spreaders of the virus, they may keep it circulating in their communities, putting unvaccinated people at risk.

 

Why are vaccinated people are testing positive for the virus?

 

- They are not following the precautionary measures such as wearing masks in public, sanitizing hands, maintaining social distancing and ignoring the other safety protocols as advised by the health ministry

- Not following the after vaccination rules as told by the doctors (eg alcohol consumption, taking immunosuppressive drugs)

- Not getting the second dose on time or not getting the second dose at all

- Barrier in immunity (may not mount a good enough immune response)

As of now, the only way to be absolutely sure of not getting the infection is to continue to follow strict hygiene measures in terms of hand washing and sanitizing, respiratory hygiene including wearing a mask at all times when outside your safe zone or in presence of strangers, covering your mouth and nose when your cough or sneeze, not rubbing your eyes, nose or mouth under any circumstances. These measures have to continue until a larger segment of the population is vaccinated and the transmission chain can be effectively broken.

Vaccinate or Not

 Summary of webinar  on Current Vaccines and Newer Strains of Corona Virus 

Salient points.

1.All appoorved vaccines including Pfizer, Moderna, Covishield and Covaxin  have ~100% efficacy  in preventing Death due to Covid. In addition to this they also have 

 -Very High efficacy against Severe Covid Infections

 -High to moderate efficacy (60%-95%) against  symptomatic Covid infections but 

 -poor efficacy only  against asymptomatic covid infections

So people should not run after efficacy data while choosing a vaccine.  

 2. Because all vaccines prevent severe covid and death, vaccination of a large cohort of  population is important if we want to save the humanity from the ill effects of the  current  pandemic.

Every one should get vaccinated and encourage others to get vaccinated.

 

3. Nasal vaccines might be able to prevent even asymptomatic covid because it generates local IgA antibodies cutting chain of transmission and bringing an end to this pandemic.

4. Vaccination of 10000 pregnant ladies has been done in USA without any additional side effects seen   upto 3 months of follow up. Hence, pregnant ladies can also be safely vaccinated.

5. People with  allergy to food, drugs, latex, venom previous non covid vaccine can safely take covid vaccine. 

6.Only people with severe anaphylaxis to previous covid or non covid vaccines should avoid covid vaccine.

7. People who have had Covid in the past must opt for Covid Vaccination four to six weeks after recovery. 

Data is emerging that they might need just one shot of the vaccine as Robust Neutralising Antibody titres and Strong T cell responses have been found in them even after single shot of vaccination.

8. People who have received Plasma therapy should wait at least four weeks before taking a vaccine. During these four weeks, the preformed antibodies transfused in external plasma will  wane off and this will  avoid the  neutralization of virus (protein) produced by covid vaccine 

9. People with severe disease who are admitted should wait at least 4 to 10 weeks after recovery before taking any vaccine.

10. People with Diabetes should go for vaccination after taking food/breakfast. This would ideally apply to all as there is a wait time involved.

11. People who are on Corticosteroids should decrease dose to less than 7.5 mg per day, if possible for six weeks, when taking  the vaccine, because higher doses act as immunosuppressives and may decease immunity development.

12. Inhaled steroids need not be tapered when taking covid vaccine because systemic bioavailability of inhaled corticosteroid is low.

13. People with nasal allergy,  Bronchial Asthma, skin allergy can all be safely vaccinated.

14. People on immunosuppressive agents like methotrexate should stop the drug two weeks before and two weeks after the vaccine 

15. Rituximab given for Non- Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Rheumatoid arthritis should be avoided for at least 4 weeks {drug acts by attaching to B cells}.

16. Those being treated for Blood cancer and who have been given Bone Marrow Transplant should wait at least 3 months 

17. Those being given Monoclonal antibodies can be given vaccine safely as it is not live vaccine.

18. Those without bone marrow transplant/Cell therapy  should wait for vaccine till Absolute Neutrophils Count returns to normal.

19. Those who are planning to undergo surgery should to take vaccine at least 2 weeks in advance for protection. 

20. For patients with Autoimmune diseases like SLE, Sjogrens Syndrome, no disease specific data exists but theoretically Covishield and m RNA vaccination is unlikely to increase auto immunity. Vaccination should be encouraged though extra caution be taken.

21. Older people should be encouraged to take vaccine as risk of covid mortality is high among them.

22. People with Dementia, paralysis etc neurological disorders should take vaccine as their covid appropriate behaviour is likely to be compromised.

22. Stable CKD,  Cardiac failure,  Liver failure can take the vaccine but their immune response may be poor.

23. Immunocompromised people should preferably be given Covishield vaccine as it has a non replicating viral vector coding for spike protein.

24. People talking Aspirin and Clopidogrel need not stop these drugs before vaccination.

25. People on anticoagulants can be given vaccine safely.

For any clarifications please feel free to contact me personally

Source:

https://www.umms.org/coronavirus/covid-vaccine/facts/strain

Vaccination Reaction Explained!

Any vaccination, including the one's we take as children, are known to have a varied spectrum of side effects. How your body reacts to the vaccine is completely individual and cannot, per se, be generalised. However, we can document expected reactions; which is what gives the vaccine a green signal to be safely used in the general population.

As expected, the Covid vaccines are creating quite a stir in the community, with a large variety of side effects being reported, right from having absolutely no reaction at all (with people joking about being given only distilled water) right up to chills, rigors, fevers and intense body and joint pains! The strange thing is this - some people will have these reactions right from the first dose while some get the severe reactions only with the second. How can we possibly explain this? Let me try.

Imagine a phobia that you are currently at peace with. It may not even be a phobia but just something that frightens you. Let's say you are scared of owls. 

While you are trying to sleep at night, let's say an owl decides to come visit your window and just sits there, looking around. You would be scared, sure. You would probably muster up the courage to try and shoo it away or just leave the room to come back once it had left. Now, imagine this happens again the next week. Same owl, same piercing eyes, same rotating head! Staring right at you with it's talons perched on the window sill. Your reaction this time is likely to be much more pronounced. Your heart beat will race, you might sweat a bit, you might hyperventillate, you could even have a full blown panic attack. This is because your system is now aware of the fear and has seen it once before. It is primed to attack and act fast as soon as it sees the first offending stimulus return.

The first dose of the vaccine is like the first time you see the owl. The immune system takes notice of the foreign impulse and takes some precautions to ready your body to deal with it but the second time it is already primed to respond to the stimulus that it now recognizes. Basically, the first dose is eduating the system to be on the look out for the stimulus. This is building the immune response from the ground up. Therefore, the reactions to the first dose may not be very severe at all. The body produces antibodies, but also starts to generate immune cells called B cells to make targeted antibodies. This takes time -- a process known as maturing. Then, the second time you are given the vaccine, those cells are at attention like a clone army and can immediately start producing a huge response, which is why people feel like they have been kicked in the teeth.

When the immune system detects a virus, it will dispatch cells and molecules to memorize its features so it can be fought off more swiftly in the future. Vaccines impart these same lessons without involving the disease-causing pathogen itself—the immunological equivalent of training wheels.

The flu-like symptoms that come with any viral infection are not caused by the virus itself. They are caused by the body's response. The fever and muscle aches come from inflammation, which in turn is a sign that immune cells called T cells are sending out an alarm in the form of signaling chemicals called cytokines. These symptoms mean that your immune system is revving up and the vaccine is actually working.

Detailed explanation of how this works is below. Everything from here on in will be technical:

Once delivered into the upper arm, the mRNA (from the vaccine) instructs the body’s own cells to produce a coronavirus protein called spike—a molecule that elicits powerful, infection-fighting antibody responses in people battling COVID-19.

To ensure safe passage of mRNA into cells, the vaccine makers envelope the molecules in fat bubbles called lipid nanoparticles or the vector. These bubbles don’t resemble anything naturally present in the body, and so they trigger the fast-acting immune cells, called innate immune cells, that are patrolling the body in the circulation looking for any foreign matter. Once they spot the nanoparticles, these cells dispatch molecular alarms called cytokines that recruit other immune cells to the site of injection. The influx of cells and molecules makes the upper arm swollen and sore. The congregating cells spew out more cytokines still, flooding the rest of the body with signals that can make system-wide symptoms appear such as fever and bodyache along with fatigue.

The innate immune system acts fast. But its actions aren't very long-lived: These cells just pound on anything that looks a little strange. Within a day or two of the injection, they start to lose steam. Cytokine production sputters; side effects start to fade. Around this time, innate immune cells start to pass the baton to another division of the immune system, called adaptive immunity, which includes antibodies and T cells, that will launch an attack on specific pathogens if they try to infect the body again.

T cells and B cells, the cells that make antibodies, need several days to study the foreign materials features before they can respond. By the time the second injection is given, adaptive cells are all prepped and raring to go, and faster to react. Some of these cells have even been lingering at the site of injection, out of suspicion that their target would return. Stimulated anew, these sentinel cells will blast out their own cytokines, layering on an extra wave of inflammation. In some people, these complex reactions can manifest in fevers, aches, and prolonged exhaustion. The side effects also signify that both branches of the immune system are being engaged as they should—cementing the memory of the coronavirus’s spike protein in some of the body’s most powerful cells.

That’s a big part of why vaccine boosts are so important. Although the first shot stimulates both innate and adaptive immunity, the second injection reminds B and T cells that the threat of the offeding organism cannot be taken lightly, and ensures that the sharpest and strongest immune players will be used for any subsequent response.

Basically they’re asking, ‘Why is this happening 21 or 28 days later? I thought we took care of this four weeks ago,’

Having said this, this is by no means meant to be a deterrant to take the vaccine. On the contrary, a few days of side effects could very well protect you from life threatning infections. Also, the so called "Covid Arm" only looks scary. It actually causes no effects at all, other than looking red and angry and it's very rare!

This also seems to answer the very important and nagging question that even healthcare workers seem to be struggling with: Do we need the vaccine if we already have antibodies? Well, of course you do! It will cause no harm and will only act as a booster as explained above! So, will you take the vaccine when it becomes available to you?