vaginal cancer

HPV vaccine is not just about cervical cancer, but other cancers

Despite our best efforts, a lot of people believe the HPV vaccine is just for cervical cancer in women. In fact, the HPV vaccine prevents many other cancers that are as dangerous or maybe even more dangerous than cervical cancer.

Too many people focus on preventing cancer in women rather than the fact that the HPV vaccine prevents many forms of cancer in anyone who has sex. It doesn’t matter if one is gay, lesbian, or straight, HPV, which is linked to cancers, can be transmitted sexually between partners.

This article is here to remind everyone that HPV is linked to many different cancers. And given that there are just a handful of ways to reliably prevent cancer, the HPV vaccine becomes one of the most powerful tools to prevent these dangerous, debilitating, and deadly diseases.

by Michael Simpson
2020-09-27
5 Comments
Cancer, HPV vaccine, Infectious disease, Merck, Vaccines

HPV quadrivalent vaccine, also known as Gardasil (or Silgard in Europe), is marketed by Merck, usually for vaccination of teenage girls (with an increasing number of boys). The vaccine prevents the transmission of certain types (pdf) of human papillomavirus (HPV), specifically types 6, 11, 16 and 18. HPV types 16 and 18 cause approximately 70% of cervical cancers, and caused most HPV-induced anal (95% linked to HPV), vulvar (50% linked), vaginal (65% linked), oropharyngeal (60% linked) and penile (35% linked) cancers. These cancers, mostly related to HPV, can be prevented as long as you can prevent the HPV infection from ever happening, which usually happens through genital contact, most often during vaginal and anal sex. HPV may also be passed on during oral sex and genital-to-genital contact. HPV can be passed on between straight and same-sex partners—even when the infected partner has no signs or symptoms. Approximately 79 million Americans, most in their late teens and early 20’s, are infected with HPV, and about 14 million people become infected each year in the USA.Read More »Study shows HPV vaccine lowers HPV infection risk in teen girls