Should boys get Gardasil?
November 7, 2008 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Than anti-PHV vaccine that is being promoted heavily for teen girls should be given to boys too, say many people.
HPV, or human papilloma virus, is responsible for genital warts. Although there are many types of HPV, two are responsible for 70% of cases of cervical cancer in women. Gardasil protects girls and young women against developing four strains of HPV, including the two responsible for most cervical cancers.
The question from many is, if HPV is transmitted from boys to girls, from men to women, then boys should be vaccinated too. While researchers are working on finding out if this type of vaccine is good and safe for boys, we are left with the question: will boys get vaccinated?
The only way a boy or man will ever know that they have been infected with HPV is if they develop genital warts and not all do. As well, many genital warts may never be detected, so they wouldn’t know of their existence. So, will a male or the parents of a male, agree to be vaccinated against something that won’t every seem to cause them any harm? My guess is, no. If there is so much debate against giving the vaccine to girls, the debate will likely be stronger for boys.
What do you think?
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Tags: cancer blog, gardasil vaccine, gardasil for boys, HPV vaccine, HPV for boys, human papillomavirus, cervical cancer, genital warts
I think if they can prove that it is safe for vaccinating young males before sexual activity occurs then they should seriously look in to it. However, it is still very controversial that it is safe for women….so it’s kind of an uncomfortable fence to straddle.