Hey ec, basically the other day I was watching a programme about hpv, its something ive never really given any consideration to before as all that I really knew about it was that it can cause cervical cancer in women and that was why they now have the free hpv vaccine for young women.anyway. I didnt realise that hpv can also cause oral and anal cancer in men, now im in a relationship with a guy, and although we are both very safe sexually we usually dont use protection for oral, and I was wondering whether peoe knew if that leaves us at risk from oral cancer?i know you can pay to get the hpv vaccine, even though its like £300, I wanted to know if its worth looking into getting it?have any guys here had the hpv vaccine?any info would be helpful. =)
Some strains can. HPV has many different strains. It is the same virus that causes ordinary warts (the kind you get on your fingers, feet, etc). There are some strains that can also cause cancers. But one correction- it can cause oral and anal cancer in both men and women. The HPV immunization is currently recommended for young girls. Eventually it will also be recommended for young boys once the research studies are complete. Some physicians are already giving it to boys on the assumption that it will be recommended some day. The immunization is administered in the pre-teen years before a person becomes sexually active. Once you have been exposed to the strains of HPV that are in the immunization, receiving an immunization is not considered to be effective. It is recommended for people who have not had sex.
check out the hyper study, it's not in your area but it does provide some useful information... www.hyper.org.au
Hmm. Does anyone know if I am able to be tested for HPV antibodies? Also, if i come up negative, would the price of vaccination be roughly affordable? (edit) Looked this up, costs about four hundred bucks in australia. Yikes. It's unlikely i've managed to avoid it by now, but if i've somehow slipped through a gap then i'd very much like to be immunised. I'd never thought about it much before this thread, thanks!
If I am correct (and I'm pretty sure I am, unless something has recently changed), there is no test to determine if a man has HPV. There is a test for women, but it only tests for certain strains of the virus, so it's not be any means a complete guarantee that someone doesn't have the virus. So unfortunately, there's not really a way to know for sure if you have been exposed to it yet or not. They say that even if you have gotten one strain of it, it is worth it to be immunized because the immunization will still protect you from getting other strains that you don't have yet, specifically some of the ones most likely to cause cancers.
I was actually going to post this somewhere anyway, but it's relevant to this thread, so I'll just put it here. But I don't know, given that oral sex is one of the most common sexual acts for gay people (male or female), I wonder if it shouldn't be put somewhere more prominent. Oral sex now main cause of oral cancer: Who faces biggest risk? Additionally, I just did some research via google, and you need to be aware of the risk of anal transmission of HPV as well, even if you are practicing safer sex. According to one article, Doc Talk: Gay Men, HPV, and the Cancer Connection, (bold mine) and also The article recommends annual anal pap smears (which, apparently, do exist) for gay men (and anyone who is a receiver in anal sex, really). Oral tests for HPV do also exist, according to Johns Hopkins. But they are not routinely used. (This means that you will have to ask for the test from your doctor, and possibly persuade them that it is warranted. Also, you might have problems getting insurance to cover it, I don't know. In the UK, that might not be a problem.) Also, you should know that many STDs can be transmitted through oral sex. There is a serious lack of education about it. Some things are less likely to be transmitted by oral sex than by other kinds of sex, but that doesn't mean that the risk isn't significant. Read here: Is Oral Sex Safe Sex?
I once read an article dedicated to attempting to calculate the monetary value of a human life. It was interesting but very macabre and disturbing. Isn't that a non-worry anyway? If everyone gets the vaccine, and the virus eventually dies out, you won't have to worry about spending the money on more vaccines? Long, long, long term pie-in-the-sky stuff, i know... but still, it worked with smallpox and polio (we're NEARLY there with polio), right?
In general, immunization is a worth-while investment. Something like a flu shot or polio immunization has a clear cost benefit- where there's a clear cost savings on administering the shot versus the cost of treating the person for the disease. Governments were willing to pick up the cost of the immunzation programs to stop the spread of these diseases to large groups of people. With HPV, there's not as much research and the effects of HPV infections aren't as apparently. HPV immunization requires a series of three shots. The sum cost for all three is about $400. Most insurance plans don't cover it. HPV is epidemic in the college age population of both gay and straight people. A lot of the people who carry (and spread) the virus don't know that they are infected. But only a few thousand cases of cancer deaths are though to directly related to HPV-caused cancers. Is spending $400 per person to immunize several million people cost justified when it only saves a few thousand lives? Some studies say "yes" but the jury is still out.
I'm gonna invent some hypothetical stats just for a little gedanken $400 per vaccine X 10,000,000 people = $4,000,000,000 ... let's say that saves 1,000 people in a year. should the government be willing to spend $4,000,000 to save a life? Let's say that the government thinks the answer is no. And they don't immunise. Next year, another 1,000 people become infected with HPV which is destined to eventually kill them via cancer, the vast majority of whom would not have been infected were it not for a mass immunisation the previous year. should the government be willing to spend $2,000,000 to save a life? As time goes by, that number just keeps going down (because the number of saved folk keeps going up). Thinking long term, no matter WHAT number you put on the value of a human life, it's always economical. isn't it? [edit] or are they just waiting for the vaccine to get cheaper?
Is there any institutional prohibition on the administration of HPV vaccine to young men? If I have the money for it and request it, will the doctor prescribe it? Is it tested safe?
i can't imagine there'd be a disparity in safety between the genders for it or any vaccine. I'm sure if you asked for it and paid for it you'd receive it...?
That's what I figured but I don't know anything about how medicines are actually given. I initially reasoned that vaccines were only given within FDA guidelines or something.
Subsidies certainly are, but it would be foolish to altogether prohibit males from purchasing it, surely.
The FDA has approved the use of the HPV immunization for men. The immunization primarily addresses the strains that cause cervical cancer in women, although some of the strains in the immunization are known to cause anal cancer. So, if you want the shots and you ask your physician for it, you can get it.