There’s been so much discussion about vaccinating women when they’re young against HPV or Human Papiloma Virus, but there really hasn’t been much ado about men or younger boys getting vaccinated against the HPV virus.  The reason is very justifiable though.  Women are noted to have a significantly higher risk of getting cervical cancer if they have HPV, enough so that people have lobbied for young women to recieve the vaccine for the HPV virus automatically, as preventive health, when they are young and may not have even had sexual contact yet with any partners. 

Some may object to it since it is sexual in nature, but the fact is, parents cannot guarantee their children aren’t fooling around unless they keep them locked up 24/7 or have them wear chastity belts, so it’s the better safe than sorry mentality at play, which I actually tend to agree with since I have no religious objection to it. 

Women actually have to get annual pap smears, where a smear of tissue is taken from their cervix, to make sure they do not have the human papiloma virus that can lead to cervical cancer, so anything to make this risk less I think is prudent on the part of health professionals.  Just my opinion though! 

Well, now there is some discussion about giving young men the HPV vaccine.  Well here’s the kicker, it may not be as much of a connection for men to these rare types of cancer, but there has been a link made.  There is a link between the HPV virus and anal cancer as well as oral cancer.  The rise in these rare cancers in men has been thought to be linked to the presence of the virus, and that is really why the vaccine is now being pondered for men.

Problem is, men carry the HPV virus silently since there is really no good screening method for it, and they pass  it on silently to their sexual partners, and if that sexual partner is a woman, the man has just unintentionally increased her likelihood of getting cervical cancer.  Hmm.  There really are two sides to every story, aren’t there?  I’d still say the more important vaccine is for female sexual health, since the evidence is pretty straight forward that HPV leads to it in some cases, and since the screening methods are so good for HPV in women.