HPV Vaccine: A Gateway to Sex?

Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is a sexually transmitted disease that causes genital warts and can lead to cancer. There are over 200 types of HPV and the medical community knows of at least a dozen types of HPV that cause cancer, including 80% of cervical cancers. While there is no cure for HPV after an individual has been infected, the HPV vaccine is available to protect against the types of HPV that cause cancer and genital warts. The vaccine is administered to people between the age of nine to forty-five however it is most commonly given around age eleven or twelve. The vaccine has been controversial due to parents believing that giving their child a vaccine to prevent a sexually transmitted disease promotes them to have sex. However, studies have shown that people given the HPV vaccine are not sexually active at a younger age compared to those who are not vaccinated. In my opinion, I think that it is ultimately better for a child to be protected than to be fearful that a vaccine will cause them to have sex. The benefits of the vaccine largely outweigh the small likelihood that the vaccine will make a child feel they are being encouraged to have sex.

In years past, this vaccine has been encouraged amongst females more than males due to womens’ risk for developing cervical cancer as a result of HPV. However, in an article published by STAT, a man named Michael Becker who was prominent in the pharmaceutical industry used his story as an example to encourage boys to get the HPV vaccine. Becker contracted HPV and then died in 2019 from oral and throat cancer associated with his HPV infection. Researchers have expressed how preventable Becker’s cancer was if he had received the HPV vaccine. The article discussed how HPV causes 34,000 Americans to develop cancer each year of which 14,100 are men. Additionally, there are 13,500 cases of HPV oropharynx cancer cases each year of which 11,300 are men. Thus, the article expressed how common HPV causes cancer among men as well and that boys need to make sure they are protected just as much as women. Personally, I feel that many boys and young men choose to not receive the vaccination based on the assumption that their female sexual partners have received the vaccine, however, I fear as the anti-vaccination movement progresses, more females will not receive the HPV vaccine and then nobody will be protected from HPV.

The HPV vaccine, Gardasil 9, was tested for safety by using human trials. The vaccine was studied using more 13,000 females and males before its registration. Gardasil, the original vaccine, was tested using more than 20,000 females aged 9-45 in 33 countries and 4,000 males aged 9-26 in 18 countries. Within these studies researchers found that the vaccine was 100% effective in preventing cell abnormalities caused by two of the cervical cancer-causing HPV types and Gardasil 9 has proven to be effective in preventing even more HPV types connected to cervical cancer. Researchers have been investigating the Gardasil vaccines and their safety for over twenty years and there have been no adverse effects other than a sore swollen arm following injection of the vaccine. No abnormalities in cognitive ability, blood clots, or deaths have been associated with this vaccine. The main concern over this vaccine involves its social debate about whether or not mandating the HPV vaccine overrides parents’ rights about when they should have conversations about their child’s sexual activity.