A recent study published in the new England Journal of Medicine reports that a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is safe and effective for males. Doctors have recommended the vaccine to females for more than 10 years.
The vaccine is available at Watkins Memorial Health Center. Patricia Denning, chief of staff at Watkins, said the University helped develop the vaccine from its experimental stages to commercial develoment, serving as a test site in the 1990s.
The study reports on Gardasil, one of the two HPV vaccines currently available. The study tested the application of the vaccine among men and boys against a control group and found that it is effective in preventing infection. The vaccine also proved effective in preventing the devolopment of genital warts, which is the most common symptom of the disease in men. HPV can also cause cancers of the penis, anus, head and kneck in men.
HPV is generally considered to be a greater threat to women, as it causes 12,000 cases of cervical cancer each year. Cervical cancer is particularly dangerous because it typically does not show symptoms until it is already advanced.
About 1% of sexually active men in the U.S. have genital warts at any one time.
Each year in the U.S.:
800 men get HPV-related penile cancer
1100 men get HPV-related anal cancer
5700 men get HPV-related head and neck cancers.
Source: Center for Disease Control
Vaccination of males can be an effective means of preventing the spread of the disease if they have not already been infected. For this reason, some medical professionals recommend that the vaccine be administered to individuals before become sexually active.
The Center for Diseas Control recommends vaccination as one means of preventing infection and spread of the disease, as well as the associated symptoms. Jeff Dimond, a spokesperson for the CDC, said the data in the study was available when the vaccine was licensed for use by the FDA.
“So, this was taken into consideration when we deliberated on the vaccine in 2009,” Dimond said.
The study reported that the vaccine was safe and caused no higher incidence of side effects than did the placebo. Denning said that there is a risk of side effects with any vaccine. possible side effects of any vaccine range from the common soreness and swelling around the injection site to fainting or, in rare cases, the development of Guillan-Barre syndrome, which affects the immune system.
Watkins Memorial Health Center
Phone: (785) 864-9500
8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Sunday 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Denning said it was the policy at Watkins that patients remain seated for 10-15 minutes after a vaccination in case of a fainting spell.
Watkins administers both Gardasil and Cervarix, a second vaccine that is only administered to females. Gardasil is available to males and females between the ages of nine and 26 and offers protection against four strains of HPV, including those that cause genital warts and the various types of cancer. Cervarix protects against two strains of HPV that cause cancer.
Gardasil is administered in a series of three injections over a period of six months, each of which costs $150. Denning said the cost may or may not be covered by insurance, but students are welcome to call for information or to make an appointment.
— Edited by Danielle Packer