Posted on 02/03/2011 9:29:35 AM PST by jalisco555
To no one's surprise, a new clinical trial demonstrates that the human papilloma virus vaccine Gardasil is as good at protecting men as it is in protecting women, researchers reported Wednesday. A clinical trial in more than 4,000 boys and men demonstrated that the vaccine was more than 90% successful in preventing genital lesions caused by the four strains of HPV that the vaccine is active against, about the same level of protection demonstrated for women.
The vaccine is currently approved in the United States for both males and females over the age of 9, but current recommendations call for administration only to females. But the vaccine has been highly controversial, both because some view it as an implicit approval of sexual activity and because of its cost -- nearly $400 for a complete regimen of three doses. An estimated three-quarters of girls don't even start the regimen, and only about a third of those who do start it actually finish.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
not my boy!
Seems to me it takes two to tango when it has to do with STDs.
Glad they finally came around to grokking that fact.
They’d be better off not screwing around.
Ping!
Yes, because your boy deserves to die of cancer if he sins.
(No, not really. But that is the ultimate logic of your decision.)
Well, the original clinical trials were all in girls and young women since the aim was cervical cancer prevention. Plus, it's technically easier to study HPV infections in females. The trials in males came later. But, yeah, the AAP is a bit late here.
“They’d be better off not screwing around.”
True, but seldom adhered to by teenage boys.
Well, in an ideal world, maybe. But the reality is that at least 80% of women (and presumably men) are infected with one or another type of genital HPV during their lifetimes, although most will clear the infection. So vaccination makes more sense than just hoping people suddenly start to behave.
Or they could be Christians and be wisemen.
Genital wart bump!
Okay, Okay, but, can’t you kind of deduce that guys, somewhere along the chain of events related to contagion, are just as responsible for transmission? And that they are in fact infected when they transmit it to the next female in line? I mean, come on.
“not my boy!”
not my girl either! There are no long term studies of side effects etc on this vaccine. Not taking the chance on my daughter. HPV is not like smallpox or polio etc; you can take steps to prevent the spread of HPV!
“Okay, Okay, but, can’t you kind of deduce that guys, somewhere along the chain of events related to contagion, are just as responsible for transmission? And that they are in fact infected when they transmit it to the next female in line? I mean, come on.”
Yes, you are right. But the FDA requires that efficacy be proven before the vaccine is approved for a given population. If it is not approved, insurance companies, Medicaid, etc. will not pay for it.
There are only two groups of people at zero risk of being infected with HPV. They are people who have never had sex and people who have had sex with only one person who has only had sex with them. But as to the second group, can you be sure about your partner? I mean really sure? People lie about sex more than just about anything. To their partners, to their doctors and to themselves.
Remember, from the point of view of microbiology you don't just have sex with your partner. You have sex with everyone your partner has had sex with, and everyone they have had sex with...
And condoms are unreliable in preventing HPV.
I feel strongly about this because I diagnose HPV related pre-cancers every day and cancers far too often.
As effective, meaning, not very effective at all?
Boys will die from the vaccine. Haven’t enough girls died yet?
Yeah, instead he deserves to die for getting a worthless vaccine.
” ‘not my boy!’
not my girl either! There are no long term studies of side effects etc on this vaccine. Not taking the chance on my daughter. HPV is not like smallpox or polio etc; you can take steps to prevent the spread of HPV!”
Interestingly, HPV is one of the STD’s that can be spread by skin-to-skin contact.
Even if a condom is used for the sexual act, external (penile-vulvar) skin contact - rubbing, for example - prior to intromission can transmit HPV. Since HPV is causative in vulvovaginal and penile cancers, the usual “precautions” may not be as effective as we would like.
I feel strongly about this, because as a medical researcher the results are staggering.
Gardasil only protects against certain HPV strains, not all. It has serious complications associated with it’s use, up to and including research. There is plenty of documentation to verify this. And we haven’t even gotten into the long term consequences yet, because the vaccine hasn’t been tested in the long term.
The only time Gardasil is at all useful, is if someone chooses to have sex with someone else who is already infected. The use of the vaccine should not be required for a sexually transmitted disease. If people believe that they are at risk for HPV (ie, sexually active), then they should get the vaccine.
Otherwise, do not vaccine children. The risks just aren’t worth it.
No peer reviewed articles in the medical literature have shown vaccinated girls or boys at higher risk of serious injury or death compared to unvaccinated peers. If you know of one (I don't mean an anti-vaccination website I mean a scholarly medical article) I'd appreciate the reference.
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