On October 25, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices officially recommended that boys should receive Gardasil, a vaccine for Human Papillomavirus, at age 11 - 12.  (See New York Times article here.)  HPV causes cervical cancer in women and various other cancers in both genders.  The new recommendation is an important step in the effort to improve utilization of this cancer-preventing vaccine.  The HPV Vaccine has been recommended for girls since 2007, but many families have been slow or reluctant in vaccinating their girls.  Some families have a hard time thinking about this at age 11 or 12.   It is therefore worth mentioning a few plain facts about human papillomavirus, the HPV vaccine, and sexual activity:

• HPV is extremely common:  1 out of 4 adults have it
• HPV causes a variety of diseases; in addition to cervical cancer, it causes throat cancer, anal cancer, and genital warts
• The HPV vaccine works best when it is given before the age of sexual activity
• The vaccine gives the best immune response when given at age 11 – 12 (100-times better immune response compared to age 26)
• 43% of teenagers have been sexually active
• Only 78-85% of teenagers used contraception during their first sexual activity

So as you can see, this is an extremely common infection, and the vaccine works best when given at a younger age, well before the initiation of sexual activity.  To put it another way, would you advise your teenage driver to start wearing their seatbelt only after their first accident or two?  For any of the standard vaccines that we give, the goal is to protect our kids before they are exposed to the illness – the HPV vaccine is no different.    

Discussing the HPV vaccine is also an opportunity for you to begin an ongoing discussion about sexuality with your child.  Who do you want your child to learn about sex from?  If you are waiting to discuss it until puberty, or when you perceive that your child may be sexually active, you are waiting too late.  One resource in this discussion is Mary Flo Ridley, a local speaker and author who has become a nationally-recognized expert in advising parents on how to talk to their kids about sex.