HPV (or human papillomavirus) is a virus that nearly everyone will get at some point in their lives. According to the CDC, 42 million americans have the disease causing strains of HPV and 13 million teens are newly infected each year. Most of the time, people immediately think of genital warts when they think of HPV. However, HPV is concerning for a much scarier reason. It can lead to cervical, vaginal, vulvar, penile, anal, and throat cancer. Many of the HPV viruses may clear on their own, but if it doesn’t, it can lead to the cancers just mentioned. HPV is spread by skin to skin contact: vaginal, anal, or oral sexual contact. The tricky part is that many people don’t know that they are infected with the virus and may unknowingly tell their partner that they do not have HPV. It is common not to have any symptoms from HPV, but one can pass on the virus to another person which can lead to devastating consequences. Safe sex practices are often not enough to protect one from HPV since it is spread by skin to skin contact rather than bodily fluids.
Let’s Talk HPV and Our Defender, the Gardasil Vaccine
Now that we know how dangerous HPV can be, let’s discuss what we can do about it. We are fortunate enough to have a vaccine that has drastically cut down on cancer rates. The Gardasil vaccine has decreased most HPV cancers and genital warts by 88% in teen girls. This is a shockingly wonderful percentage considering 13 million teens are infected each year. Gardasil has been routinely used for over 15 years with similar rates of side effects to other standard required vaccines, i.e. tetanus. It was extensively studied with thousands of participants. It IS safe!
One might ask, “why wouldn’t I just wait to give this vaccine until my child was older and sexually active?” It is a great question, and there are a couple of great answers. The first is very important. The YOUNGER one receives the vaccine, the more the vaccine will hold on without waning in protection. A 12 year old will receive longer lasting protection than a 20 year old. The second is that this vaccine is preventative. Why risk being infected and the vaccine not being available in one’s body to fight off the cancer causing virus. Take a second to think about this analogy. We give four doses of the tetanus vaccine prior to most children even walking. Tetanus is transferred through the soil into a cut in the skin. If one is mostly being held by a caregiver and not running around outside, why do we need four doses??? The reason is that we know we need to be proactive in when and how we give the tetanus vaccine. Same idea with HPV. We give the Gardasil vaccine way before it may ever be needed. One doesn’t wait for disease. If you do, then you are too late.
Given the importance of this vaccine, we will routinely have this vaccine as part of our immunization schedule starting at age 11. If one is vaccinated with two vaccines of Gardasil prior to age 15, then one only needs two shots. If it is after 15, then the child must receive 3 shots. This sounds like a good deal!
And yes! If you are wondering if the doctors have given this to our own children, then we can say a resounding “yes”! The idea that we could prevent cancer in our own children is a no brainer!
Please feel free to reach out with questions or concerns!