Students have shown an underwhelming response to Syracuse University Health Services’ offer of free vaccines for the cancer-causing, sexually transmitted infection human papillomavirus.

So far only 49 doses of the 450 available have been given out since the start of the program in September, said Brenda Dano, public health nursing supervisor at the Onondaga County Health Department. the department received a grant from the new York State Health Department to provide vaccines to adults who are not covered by insurance or are unable to pay for them, Dano said. 

the county decided to provide the HPV vaccine to the university because it has the county’s largest group of women aged 19 to 26, the approved ages to receive the vaccine through the grant, though girls as young as 10 can legally receive the vaccine, Dano said. HPV is the leading cause of cervical cancer, Dano said.

Health Services has been promoting the vaccine at “Healthy Monday” activities at Schine Student Center and partnered with the sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha to provide information about receiving the vaccine, said Kathy VanVechten, special assistant to the director of Health Services at SU.

VanVechten said she encourages students who want more information to call Health Services to make an appointment.

“While we did not have a large number of students express interest thus far, we recognize that many students have had the vaccine before they came to college, and others may elect not to obtain it,” VanVechten said.

every year, about 12,000 women contract cervical cancer — which is proven to be connected to HPV — and less common cancers, such as vaginal, penile, anal, head and neck cancers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Half of all sexually active people will get HPV in their lifetime — 20 million people are currently infected, with another 6 million people becoming infected each year, according to the website.

HPV causes genital warts in men, and women can have the infection but show no external signs. it can be passed through oral, vaginal and anal sex, even if neither party shows any symptoms, according to the CDC website.

the vaccine, first offered in 2006, is taken in three shot doses over six months and must be taken by the age of 27 to ensure effectiveness. the vaccine is approved for men of the same age group, but the grant given to the county for this program is specifically for women, not men, Dano said.

the vaccine protects against HPV types 16 and 18, which cause approximately 75 percent of cervical cancers, and against HPV types 6 and 11, which cause approximately 90 percent of genital warts, according to Gardasil’s website. 

Adrianne Rodriguez, a junior in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, said she knows about the HPV vaccine from commercials, but she had not heard about the university-offered vaccine.

Kaila Reed, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, also said she did not know about the free university-offered vaccine and did not think a lot of others knew either.

“I think that it’s something that’s not really shown on the college campus,” she said. “I don’t think a lot of people know the benefits or the negative effects to it, so I think it’s something that needs to be maybe publicized more.”