Secondary Benefit For Boys Receiving HPV Vaccination
DETROIT (WWJ) - A new government report says about 1 in 5 boys in the U.S. got at least one of three recommended shots that protect against the HPV virus.
Although the shots in boys are primarily intended to prevent them from spreading HPV to girls, Beaumont Head & Neck Cancer expert Jan Akervall says there's a secondary benefit.
"Sixteen million males in the U.S. have oral HPV - roughly one in a thousand will develop head, neck, tonsal cancer, tongue based cancer and if you vaccinate against HPV virus that number will definitely go down," said Akervall.
For the vaccine to be effective, it must be given before boys or girls become sexually active.
