HPV vaccine for boys available

shawmutt

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shawmutt
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http://www.elpasotimes.com/health/ci_15339021

EL PASO -- The next time parents take their adolescent boys to the doctor, they may find themselves in an awkward situation.

They may be asked whether they want their sons to get a vaccine they've never before considered -- the HPV shot.

The three-dose immunization was recently approved for boys by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
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So who thinks this will raise as big a stink as it did when the girl's vaccine came out? I plan on my son and daughter getting the vaccines--anyone else?
 
I am annoyed I am too old to get jabbed.

I think it is a good idea for boys to get the jab.

Of course there are retards like Adam Curry who will say things like 'Boys can't get cervical cancer'.
 
Boys are already immunised against Rubella so why not HPV? The principle is not to protect the boys but to prevent virus spread.
 
Capsid said:
Boys are already immunised against Rubella so why not HPV? The principle is not to protect the boys but to prevent virus spread.
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Actually, it is at least partially to protect the boys. Men can, and do, get HPV. While it doesn't cause cervical cancer in men, depending on the strain, it can cause rectal cancer.
 
SkeptiChick said:
Actually, it is at least partially to protect the boys. Men can, and do, get HPV. While it doesn't cause cervical cancer in men, depending on the strain, it can cause rectal cancer.
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Penile cancer as well.

brantc said:
Would not give it to anyone.

HPV Gardasil Vaccine Proves Lethal - 47 Girls Now Dead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7LH9TRCHuA

You dont need as there is a cure.
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I find it completely incredible that anyone would be so stupid as to believe this. Thousands of women will not get cancer due to this vaccine, and far far more will not have to undergo treatments due to precancerous conditions (not to mention preventing genital warts.)

Even IF the number were correct, that 47 girls had died and that their deaths were scientifically attributed to this vaccine, the benefits would far outweigh the risks. Also, that's one hell of a big if.
 
Well, also skin cancer, about 25% of throat cancers, etc. It's quite a nasty set of viruses.

Any flavour of HPV creates cells which are just one mutation away from full-blown cancer. To have a cancer, you need essentially two things:

1. A cell whose mechanisms for regulating division have become broken and it divides out of control.

2. That one of the two known mechanisms for regenerating telomere length (maximum cell division counters) become activated. Without that, a dividing cluster of cells eventually runs out of allowed divisions and stops. (And for why such a reset mechanism is needed to exist in your cells in the first place: for example so your sperm and eggs start with the full counters, so the embryo isn't already dying of old age.)

The E6/E7 proteins in HPV take the brakes off cell division and essentially ensure #1.

So basically it seems to me like a vaccine would be a good thing, regardless of whether you're a boy or a girl.
 
brantc said:
Would not give it to anyone.

HPV Gardasil Vaccine Proves Lethal - 47 Girls Now Dead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7LH9TRCHuA

You dont need as there is a cure.
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Let's apply a little reasoning to this number (note these numbers apply to the US). Reports say that about a third of girls have been vaccinated. Using age and gender specific mortality rates, this means that we'd expect to see about 4000 deaths in the four years that it has been used and about 90 deaths in the month following vaccination, compared to the 41/47 which have been reported. Using the reasoning that all deaths after receiving Gardasil are related to its use, the substantial reduction of the death rate in those who are vaccinated suggests that Gardasil should be given to everyone.

Linda
 
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Going back to the OP, I'd like to query something about this bit:
The next time parents take their adolescent boys to the doctor, they may find themselves in an awkward situation.
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How is this "an awkward situation"?
 
Sledge said:
How is this "an awkward situation"?
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That's what I was thinking. "Would you like to have your child vaccinated against this potentially deadly virus?" really doesn't seem like such an awkward question. Or a particularly difficult one to answer for that matter.

Out of interest, is there any particular reason this vaccine is restricted to children? The article in the OP says around 20 million people in the US probably carry the virus, which I make in the region of 5% of the population. That means that the argument that older people may already have it and therefore not need it doesn't seem to hold up, since the vast majority of them would also benefit from the vaccine.
 
Cuddles said:
Out of interest, is there any particular reason this vaccine is restricted to children? The article in the OP says around 20 million people in the US probably carry the virus, which I make in the region of 5% of the population. That means that the argument that older people may already have it and therefore not need it doesn't seem to hold up, since the vast majority of them would also benefit from the vaccine.
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Yes the idea is to vaccinate before the child is sexually active, thus reducing to negligible the chance that they'll already have been exposed to the virus. It is less effective otherwise (though may still protect against strains other than those previously encountered)

Also I remember encountering the claim that though adverse reactions are rare they are apparently increased by the presence of the virus. However I can't remember if this was a reliable claim or not.
 
Cuddles said:
That's what I was thinking. "Would you like to have your child vaccinated against this potentially deadly virus?" really doesn't seem like such an awkward question. Or a particularly difficult one to answer for that matter.

Out of interest, is there any particular reason this vaccine is restricted to children? The article in the OP says around 20 million people in the US probably carry the virus, which I make in the region of 5% of the population. That means that the argument that older people may already have it and therefore not need it doesn't seem to hold up, since the vast majority of them would also benefit from the vaccine.
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The reason that the age limit exists is because the vaccine was tested on females in the suggested age range and not on older women. I'm not sure whether it's possible in the US to request the vaccine as an older person, male or female. It's hard to believe that the vaccine wouldn't work for an older adult though. From what I've read, it is possible to buy the vaccine as an older adult of either sex in Canada, at the very least.
 
There are around 130 other HPV strains that cause warts which are highly infectious through direct contact with another person's skin or a surface where the virus has been shed.
 
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