He’s 13. We got him vaccinated last year. Not sexually active at the time (and still not yet, albeit, last year, not physically developed for it). I’m pretty sure he’s being honest with us as far as not being active. At any rate, we pretty much know where he is when he isn’t in school. He’s not old enough to be out in the evenings, except for specific events, yet.
We were honest with him about the reasons why: we told him it prevented cancer, but the cancer it prevented was very rare in boys; however, boys could infect girls with something that was very likely to give them cancer, and it could be a deadly cancer. At that, suddenly, he wanted the vaccine. He even said if he married someone, and gave her cancer, that would be as bad for him as it would for her, especially if they had kids. I know the ramifications of going around infecting people are greater than just protecting one’s marriage partner, but I didn’t belabor the point with a 13-yr-old. The fact that he came up with that much on his own, I thought was pretty good.
What about other people?
Is there anyone whose son’s doctor advised against it?
I urged my son to get vaccinated as soon as it was approved for boys. He was old enough to understand the ramifications on his own. (And it turns out that a lot of esophageal cancer, which affects both sexes, is caused by the same virus. So it actually does protect boys from getting cancer.)
I don’t remember the exact timing, but I signed the permission slip for his first shot, and he went back for the booster on his own, after turning 18.
I actually wasn’t certain it had yet been approved for boys when I urged him to get it, but he asked his doctor, who confirmed that it had been (just) and did not discourage him.
I also got my infant daughter vaccinated for HepB when that was optional. It was required by the time my son was born. My father, a liver doctor, said, “this is an extremely safe and effective vaccine, and you never know what choices your children might make as adults. There is no downside, and a lot of upside, to getting it.” So I did.
Yes, the vaccine came out when my middle child (daughter) was in her teens and she had it. When her younger brother was old enough, he got it as well. My older daughters were already adults when the vaccine became available.
I explained what it was to my son, and he was fine getting it, although it wasn’t really offered as an option, just wanted to make sure he understood the reason for it.
*"Despite the fact that thousands of men get cancer because of HPV, the message doesn’t seem to sink in. That frustrates Dr. Maura Gillison, an MD Anderson oncologist who was among the first to notice an emerging epidemic of HPV throat cancers two decades ago.
“It’s still in the public perception that HPV is largely a problem for women,” Gillison told STAT. “I think people have to be aware that the burden of HPV positive oropharynx cancer in men in the United States now exceeds the burden of cervical cancer diagnosed each year.” Although survival rates are relatively high for these patients, treating these cancers is grueling for the patient and expensive for the health care system. The idea that tumors could be prevented with a few shots is bracing.
“I just know that I don’t have a single patient who wouldn’t swap two or three shots for what I do to them to try to save their life,” Gillison said…
Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said that the initial FDA approval was focused on girls because it was possible to show that the vaccine could prevent these lesions. Offit said he protested at the time that infections in boys were likely to be as important as those in girls. “We sent the wrong message,” Offit said. “It’s a message that we still haven’t shaken.”
Part of what was happening is that the epidemiology was changing right under doctors’ noses. Twenty years ago, HPV mouth and throat cancers were rare. In the past decade, the number of cases has increased dramatically."*
Yes at age 11 he is quite the stud. So we got him the first round. However due to the coronavirus, we have not gotten him the followup and will be waiting till the return of normalcy to get the second round. And right now he has little opportunity as he is home 24/7 now w/o friends over. Really he is not yet sexually active yet, but it made a good intro, but yes to everything else.
On a related note, our neighbour is an anti-vaxxer who refused to get her daughter vaccinated for HPV. This was in spite of the fact that she herself barely survived cervical cancer.
Her daughter is early 20’s and found out last year during a routine exam she has HPV. She’d assumed her mom had vaccinated her when she was young. She lost it on her mom when she found out the mom didn’t. They haven’t talked for close to a year because of this.
Sadly, her mom’s idiotic ideological decision has forever defined / destroyed their relationship and her daughter will have this spectre following her for the rest of her life.
I am a cancer survivor who’s throat cancer was caused by HPV-16.
Get your kids - both sexes - vaccinated. It’s an easy way to make sure they didn’t go through what I did.
My doctors were pretty good about telling me it wouldn’t kill me. That it could be dealt with. But they also told me I wouldn’t enjoy it.
Three months of treatment - radiation daily and three rounds of chemo - left me completely destroyed. I am a driving, motivated man who is accustomed to hitting problems directly and overcoming them. Two weeks into treatment I had trouble getting out of bed. I could barely speak - my radiation oncologist described it as ‘having the world’s worst sunburn on the inside of my throat’ and I couldn’t eat. I lost 80 pounds in four months even with supplements and such.
For six months AFTER treatment my tastebuds were still off. Sugars tasted like petrochemicals. Like tar or such. Other things would change almost daily.
Two and a half years on my hands still shake. My throat still hurts when I yawn due to the scar tissue. My entire body has a bit of numbness as a loss in sensation. And I developed tinnitus.
And that’s a best-case scenario. It’s curable. Fine. But it’s not at all pleasant to do so. Best to avoid it if you can. Get your kids vaccinated.
Jonathan Chance, that’s quite a story, thanks for sharing. I had no idea HPV could cause throat cancer. My kids (son and daughter) were both vaccinated when they were 11 or 12; I’d been thinking about it and looking up pros and cons and their pediatrician recommended it.
I think it’s a great idea! You should be proud of him for making a decision like that.
I’m 31, female and am in the process of getting mine. It wasn’t a thing when I was younger, or at least not very widely-known, and later on there was an age limit. The WHO recently upped that age limit, and after contacting my insurance, I started my first round last month. I’ll see what my doctor says about next month, when round 2 is due, but if they let me I’m going to get it (I was just in for routine bloodwork, so they haven’t banned non-essential office visits yet).
I would have gotten this years ago if I could have, but it’s better late than never.