Start the year off correctly, schedule your wellness visits with your provider and be sure to get your screening and vaccination to help prevent Cervical Cancer.
The HPV vaccine is approved for both girls and boys. In girls / women the vaccine has been proven to prevent most cases of cervical cancer if the vaccine is given before girls or women are exposed to the virus. This vaccine can also prevent vaginal and vulvar cancer.
When should I get the HPV vaccine?
Children ages 11–12 years should get two doses of HPV vaccine, given 6 to 12 months apart. HPV vaccines can be given starting at age 9 years.
Children who start the HPV vaccine series on or after their 15th birthday need three doses, given over 6 months. If your teen isn’t vaccinated yet, talk to their doctor about doing so as soon as possible. Early protection works best. That’s why HPV vaccine is recommended earlier rather than later. It protects your child long before they ever have contact with the virus.
Teens and young adults should be vaccinated too
Everyone through age 26 years should get HPV vaccine if they were not fully vaccinated already.
HPV vaccination is not recommended for everyone older than age 26 years.
Some adults age 27 through 45 years who were not already vaccinated might choose to get HPV vaccine after speaking with their doctor about their risk for new HPV infections and possible benefits of vaccination for them.
HPV vaccination of adults provides less benefit, because more people in this age range were exposed to HPV already.
HPV vaccination is preventing cancer-causing infections and precancers. HPV infections and cervical precancers (abnormal cells on the cervix that can lead to cancer) have dropped since 2006, when HPV vaccines were first used in the United States.
Among teen girls, infections with HPV types that cause most HPV cancers and genital warts have dropped 88 percent.
Among young adult women, infections with HPV types that cause most HPV cancers and genital warts have dropped 81 percent.
Among vaccinated women, the percentage of cervical precancers caused by the HPV types most often linked to cervical cancer has dropped by 40 percent.
Males only need one HPV Vaccine, the vaccine protect men/boys against HPV types 6 and 11, which cause 90% of genital warts cases. it also protects them against another 5 types of HPV (types 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58) that can lead to cancer of the cervix, anus, vulva/vagina, penis, or throat. Head and neck cancers are four times as common in men as they are in women.
While there are tests for women for cervical cancers, there is currently no approved test for HPV in men.
Bottom line there are two steps women and men can take to lower your chances of getting HPV and diseases from HPV:
Get vaccinated. The HPV vaccine is safe and effective. It can protect men against warts and certain cancers caused by HPV. Ideally, you should get vaccinated before ever having sex.
Use condoms the right way every time you have sex. This can lower your chances of getting all STIs, including HPV. However, HPV can infect areas the condom does not cover. So, condoms may not offer full protection against getting HPV.
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