CONTACTAbout UsCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2025 Equal Entertainment LLC.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
A new vaccine aimed at halting the spread of a common sexually transmitted virus that can lead to cervical cancer should eventually be given to both sexes, doctors said on Monday.
The vaccine, Merck's Gardasil, was licensed in June by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in women and girls 9 to 26 years of age. It protects against four types of the human papillomavirus, also known as HPV or human wart virus.
A government advisory committee agreed a month ago to recommend the vaccine for girls aged 11 and 12, girls and women aged 13 to 26 who have not yet received the vaccine and women who have had abnormal Pap smears, genital warts, or certain other conditions.
Bradley Monk, associate professor in gynecologic oncology at the University of California, Irvine, said the best use of the vaccine would include giving it to girls and boys and all women and men, regardless of their individual risk factors.
"We need to move toward a paradigm where this is a universal vaccine," he said in a commentary published in the latest issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
But some groups oppose requiring the shots for school attendance, saying parents should decide whether to immunize their children against a sexually transmitted virus.
Men can pass on the virus to their sexual partners, so it makes sense to vaccinate boys against HPV, and it would also protect them from genital warts, Monk said. He dismissed the argument that vaccinating people against a sexually transmitted disease would encourage promiscuity.
"Just because you wear a seat belt, does that mean you drive recklessly? Or just because you give your son a tetanus shot, does that mean he is going to go out and step on a rusty nail? Of course not," Monk said.
GlaxoSmithKline also is developing a vaccine against HPV strains, which infect about half of sexually active adults sometime during their life. The virus is usually harmless but can lead to abnormal cells in the cervix lining that can turn cancerous. It can also cause cancer of the penis.
"To have a vaccine that prevents cancer and not use it would be one of the greatest tragedies," Monk said. (Reuters)
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
31 Period Films of Lesbians and Bi Women in Love That Will Take You Back
December 09 2024 1:00 PM
18 of the most batsh*t things N.C. Republican governor candidate Mark Robinson has said
October 30 2024 11:06 AM
True
These 15 major companies caved to the far right and stopped DEI programs
January 24 2025 1:11 PM
True
Latest Stories
Unearth the homoerotic art of Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte
April 13 2025 11:00 AM
It takes a village to raise a child, but what if the village votes red?
April 13 2025 11:00 AM
The Kilted Age: Claybourne Elder on parenting, queer history, and fashion
April 12 2025 12:30 PM
New Trump Medicaid directive attacks trans people's access to gender-affirming care
April 11 2025 6:28 PM
Fans thirsting over Chris Colfer's sexy new muscles for Coachella