A new study has shown that the HPV infection rate has declined by approximately 2/3 among teenage girls, and by more than 1/3 among women in their early 20’s. This is an amazing success for a vaccine that was introduced only 10 years ago, and that obviously does no good if the person who receives it has already been infected by the HPV virus. This should result in a major reduction in cervical cancer years from now. www.nytimes.com/...
The amazing thing is that this success has been achieved despite the fact that only about 40% of girls and 20% of boys between 13-17 have received the vaccine. Vaccination rates are considerably lower in the United States than in many other countries, in part because HPV vaccination is compulsory only in Virginia, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia, and in part because some primary care providers are reluctant to strongly recommend it to parents who may not want to think about the fact that their pre-teen (which is when vaccination is recommended) may be having sex in a few years, even though any rational person would realize that people frequently become sexually active during their teen years.
The most insane thing is the right-wing opposition to HPV vaccination of preteens because it will supposedly make it more likely for teenagers to have sex. Think about what would have to happen to make that happen. A teenager would have to think, “Gee, I wouldn’t have sex if it resulted in a substantial risk of getting infected with HPV and getting cervical, penile, mouth or throat cancer years down the road. But since I don’t have as much risk of that, I’m willing to disregard the risks of pregnancy, HIV, and other venereal diseases and go ahead and have sex.” NO teenager is going to think like that. It almost seems as if the people who oppose widespread HPV vaccination thinks that if their kid has sex outside of marriage, they deserve to die for it.