HPV vaccines for boys as well

It seems unanimous by the CDC, federal advisory panel, and state officials. Girls aren’t the only ones who should be vaccinated for HPV in there years of 12-26. Boys need to be the shot as well. And it goes back to prevention.

Some people argued that girls are the ones at greater risk because they have the risk to more cancers and the genital warts risk is greater for them as well, making them an ideal candidate for the HPV shot. But since it has been slow moving and sometimes unpopular to get girls vaccinated, there is now a green light to give the shot to boys.

This shouldn’t be taken as though it has no benefits to boys for taking the shots. Some parents still hate the thought of this vaccine though. In consideration for getting the shot for girls, some parents would complain that we are promoting promiscuity. Now that some are promoting the shot for boys, there are been responses like, ‘my boy is not gay, so he wouldn’t get any rectal cancer anyways”.

Parents like this come off to most as controlling and selfish. Of course, the statistical odds are that the girls are getting these diseases from the boys who are infected. So by protecting the boys we are then, in fact, protecting more girls even if they have not gotten the HPV shot.

There is no question that getting the vaccine is controversial for some and some believe it is just supporters for the pharmaceutical company ‘Merck’ for pushing this through at trying to make it mainstream.

But when considering some startling statistics on a national level, it is generally agreed that this vaccination does more good then bad. When you consider that genital warts are the #1 STD in the United States today.

The reason it is pushed for young people is to promote the best impact on prevention. Some argue that the shot does no good on someone infected with HPV. There is, however, a small chance of benefit if they are introduced to a new strain of the virus that they have yet to be exposed to AND is preventable from the vaccine. But it is correct in stating that the vaccine will not provide any benefit to treat or cure a pre-existing infection.

It should also be known that Gardasil, which is manufactured by Merck, is not the only HPV vaccine on the market, although it tends to be the strong choice in the States. There is another pharmaceutical company called GlaxoSmithKline that distributes a vaccine called Cervarix that is the vaccine of choice in much of Europe.

The vaccine came out in 2006 and got a lot of press when Rick Perry mandated its administration to schoolgirls in 2007. The Gardasil vaccine has become licensed and available for boys in 2009 but has just recently been recommended by the health care officials of this nation.

Although there are concerns on mandating it or making it more available, the statistics of how many accept the vaccine on a general recommendation ranges from 70-90% acceptance. So most people are really not opposed to the potential benefits that this vaccine can provide.

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