Be a part of some really cool science!

No one gets polio anymore. That’s because we developed a vaccination that virtually eliminated the disease. A few years ago Merck developed its vaccination against HPV, Gardasil. It was developed for use in women and approved by the FDA for women only. Last week, Gardasil was approved for use in men. The problem? The CDC doesn’t recommend that men get vaccinated.

The major reasoning behind the CDCs ruling is that Gardasil only seems to prevent genital warts in men, while in women it can prevent some strains of cervical cancer. The extension of this is that vaccinating men, or specifically young boys, is a green light for promiscuity. We’ve seen this before and we’ll see it again.

So what can you do as a twenty-something? Go get vaccinated. The focus for the shot is middle school girls. However, the shot is approved for you…you at whatever age you are reading this. As long as you don’t already have HPV (something they test for before giving you the shot) you can get vaccinated. I did it and it was a piece of cake. While you’re checking your healthcare provider to see if they have the H1N1 shot in, just go ahead and schedule your HPV vaccine.

You can help eradicate a disease. Just go get the shot.

Bridge Over A Troubled Cervix

You know what I hate? Getting cancer. It’s really low on my list of things to do in my life. Because of that, on Tuesday, I will go to get my last HPV vaccine. This shot has been a great point of contention among political parties, schools, and parents. Being 27, I was fortunate to squeeze in under the age cutoff and have not had to deal with the social ramifications of being told that getting it will increase my promiscuity. In fact, waiting to get through the six-month series of three shots has actually reduced my promiscuity. Eighty percent of sexually –active adults have HPV, meaning that I was extraordinarily fortunate to get to my mid-twenties and still be STD free- especially since HPV can be transferred by contact alone (read “penetration not necessary”).

HPV, or the Human Papillomavirus infect your mucous membranes. While it expresses itself as warts, many strains of the virus have no showing signs at all. This is particularly scary when a few strains (about 13 of the hundreds) of this virus have been linked to [Read more]