Removal Of Warts

Most mums and dads are aware that the human papilloma (HPV) vacination is widely available for their daughters, should they decide they want it. The uptake for the vaccination is essentially very poor, given the gravity of what it offers protection against. Nonetheless recommendations are now being made that the vaccine also should be given to boys, and not just girls. Is this really necessary, and what are the arguments in favour of doing this?

HPV is a virus and is the most common sexually transmitted disease around. It is the virus that is responsible for genital warts and it is thought to affect around 70-80% of the population in the United States at some point in their lives. There are lots of different strains of the virus, with a number of them being the cause of genital warts, and others for things such as cervical cancer.

The justification for offering the HPV vaccination to boys is that it’ll reduce the spread of the potentially deadly strains of HPV, encourage a better uptake of the vaccination in girls, and help reduce cancer deaths in males. Both males and females are at risk of throat cancer caused by HPV as the virus can be passed during oral sex.

Part of the issue is that parents have to be planning for the future when they decide whether or not to get their child vaccinated, and most mothers and fathers are probably not going to be considering their young child’s future sexual promiscuity!

Youths who are active in a sexual sense have a high risk of getting the HPV virus, and as a consequence picking up one of the more deadly strains. The virus can stay hidden for many years, and although it may nor show any noticeable signs of it’s presence, it may result in cervical dysplasia and infertility.

Since almost all girls contract the cancer causing strains of the virus through contact with boys there truly is a powerful argument in favour of vaccination for boys. However, since the take up of the vaccine for girls thus far has been low, it looks like something that’ll be a difficult sell to parents of boys.

Is HPV vaccination something you would consider for your son?

Sharon Smith set up the Vaginal Warts web site. She previously suffered from genital warts and shares with others how she was able to lose them.

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