Nearly 80 million Americans are infected with HPV and 14 million new cases are reported each year, according to Centers for Disease Control.
Doctors say many males are not doing what they can to protect females from getting the virus.
Dr. Mobeen Rathore, professor and chief pediatric infectious diseases/immunology at UF Health Jacksonville, said a vaccine is being under-utilized.
“You are giving the HPV vaccines to prevent cancer,” Rathore said.
He said it’s vital that children receive their HPV vaccine before they have any physical relationship with a partner.
“All vaccines are like that," Rathore said. "You want to give the flu vaccine before the flu season starts, right? Not in the midst of the flu season or afterwards."
A recent study by American College of Physicians showed an alarming rate of men contracting the cancer-causing HPV virus.
“There may be this misconception that males don’t need the vaccine but they actually need it because it’s often that the male is transferring it to the female,” Rathore said.
Research showed approximately one in 9 American men have the virus but the number of males getting the vaccine to prevent it remains extremely low.
“It’s important, critical, that males get the HPV vaccine that they can get to protect their partners,” Rathore said.
The CDC nearly 60 percent of girls received the vaccine says in 2014 but only 35 percent of boys did.
The CDC updated the HPV vaccine schedule in October 2016 to recommend that juveniles between 9 and 14 years old receive two doses of the HPV vaccine at least six months apart rather than the previously recommended three-dose schedule.
“I think it’s important that parents consider the facts -- that if you immunize your children before they can be at risk for something that could be prevented it’s for the benefit of the child,” Rathore said.
Cox Media Group
