According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) and is so common “nearly all sexually active men and women get it at some point in their lives.” About 79 million Americans currently have HPV, and about 14 million Americans become infected each year.
Indiana ranks 40th in the nation for the number of girls between the ages of 13 and 16 who have been vaccinated, with about 23 percent having received all three doses of the HPV vaccine. Theresa Rohr-Kirchgraber, doctor of pediatrics and adolescent medicine at Eskenazi Health, said these numbers aren’t good.
“That’s horrible; this vaccine fights against cancer not just an STD,” Rohr-Kirchgraber said.
HPV is most commonly spread during vaginal or anal sex and can be passed even when an infected person has no signs or symptoms, according to the CDC.
“People don’t understand that you can get HPV from sitting on a toilet seat that an infected person may have recently sat on,” said Rohr-Kirchgraber.
According to the CDC, in most cases HPV goes away on its own and does not cause any health problems. But when it doesn’t resolve itself, it can cause health problems like genital warts and cancers, including cervical cancer and penile cancer. Rohr-Kirchgraber said this is why some local physicians and government officials advocate HPV vaccinations for all Indiana children. Rohr-Kirchgraber also said Indiana ranks low in the number of children being given vaccinations overall, not just for HPV.
There was some backlash from social conservatives after a recent notice sent by Indiana health officials to about 305,000 Indiana parents with children who have no record of receiving the three-dose HPV vaccine. The letter mentioned the public health risk posed by the common, cancer-causing STD and strongly urged parents to vaccinate their children.
Alene Bowie, of Indianapolis, said if the vaccine will protect her son then she is all for it.
“I’m not too familiar with the vaccine because it wasn’t around when I was younger, so all of this is fairly new to me. However, I am willing to let him get anything that will protect him from any type of cancer if a doctor recommended it,” said Bowie.
Rohr-Kirchgraber believes that for the sake of Indiana children, more parents should think like Bowie.
“I’ve always told people, ‘I love your children, but not more than I love my own,’ and they have the vaccine,” said Rohr-Kirchgraber.
For more information, visit cdc.gov.
