In an effort to prevent a sexually transmitted virus that causes penile cancer,the United States health authorities suggest that young males be vaccinated.
The Human Papilloma Virus or HPV is a sexually transmitted infection that affects at least fifty percent of sexually active individuals according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. Not only does it cause most cervical cancers, it can also cause anal cancer,and some throat and mouth cancers.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the HPV vaccine Gardasil for use in women in 2006. Three years later, the FDA approved a second HPV vaccine, Cervarix.
Gardasil is FDA-approved for both males and females between the ages of 9 and 26. Some parents are not receptive to the vaccine because it could encourage young women and men to engage in sexual activities at an early age.
In addition to protecting against HPV 16 and HPV 18, the two principal cancer causing types, Gardiasil protects against two other disease-causing strains, HPV 6 and HPV 11, responsible for 90 percent of genital warts as well as cervical cell changes.
More than 40 strains of HPV exist, and all are passed along by skin-to-skin contact, usually during sexual relations, according to the CDC.
By CDC estimates, the two strains cause 15,000 malignancies in women and 7,000 in men every year. The two strains account for an estimated 70 percent of cervical cancers, about 70 percent of vaginal cancers and most vulvar cancers. HPV 16 by itself causes 85 percent of anal cancers.
The shot is around $360, but there is a possibility that insurance will start paying for the vaccine when used in boys.
HPV has been shown to increase a man's chances of contracting penile and anal cancer, particularly for gay males. According to CDC, men who have sex with men are about 17 times more likely to develop anal cancer than straight men.
Most men who get HPV never have any symptoms or health problems, but symptoms include genital warts, bleeding, sore throat or ear pain that doesn't go away, changes in color on the penis, and other signs. According to the CDC, about 1 percent of sexually active men in the U.S. have genital warts at any one time.For a full list visit http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/STDFact-HPV-and-men.htm.
