Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

HPV Vaccine Recommended For Boys

Posted by timothy on from the pushed-by-big-pharma-and-not-a-cure-all dept.

necro81 writes "An advisory committee to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will soon issue new recommendations that pre-adolescent boys be vaccinated against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). The disease is sexually transmitted, endemic in the sexually active, can cause genital warts in both men and women, and is the primary cause of cervical cancer, which kills hundreds of thousands of women globally each year. The three-dose vaccination has been available for several years and is already recommended for pre-adolescent girls. Vaccinating boys should further reduce transmission."

2 of 569 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Vaccinating carriers... by fwice · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's not just penile cancer. Also, depending on how transferred, HPV can cause rectal and oral (throat) cancers.

    I also ready today (here) that HPV may lead to future heart trouble.

  2. Re:swingers? by fwice · · Score: 5, Informative

    I got the HPV vaccine last year as a male at the age of 26. There is the overall thought that if you are sexually active (ie, not a non-infected virgin with another non-infected virgin), you will have obtained some strain of HPV (there are more than 150, most are relatively benign). Your body can "clear" most of these, and they will never be an issue. I thought it was still appropriate for me to get the vaccine, as there are some benefits:

    • if you aren't infected with certain strains, you are vaccinated from 2 high-risk (HPV 16&18, cancer causing) and 2 high-trauma (HPV 6&11, wart causing) strains of HPV. These strains account for ~70% of HPV-related cancers and ~90% of warts, if I recall the numbers correctly.
    • if you are infected with HPV 6/11/16/18, the vaccine may help your body to clear and infection if it lingers, and may reduce (or eliminate) outbreaks of warts

    Vaccination was uncovered by my insurance (gee, thanks!) but I figured it was worth the $510, to protect myself and any partners (should I be a carrier).