Tag Archives: hpv vaccine

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Should Florida law require school kids to get the HPV vaccine?

By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times 

During a spring legislative session dominated by school safety concerns, lawmakers left another pressing health issue on the back burner. And, like the Parkland shootings that commanded their attention, it involves life, death and young people.

A bill called the “Women’s Cancer Prevention Act” would have required children entering Florida public schools to receive the vaccine that protects against cervical and other cancers caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infections.

While it didn’t get much traction in the Capitol this time around, the bill is likely to pop up again next year as other states begin to pass and consider similar legislation. It also enjoys overwhelming support from the medical community.

Still, the continuing controversy over the HPV vaccine threatens to stand in the way.

“The introduction of any new vaccine is controversial. But as a country, we seem to forget the benefit of vaccination. The message that we need to get out is that we can prevent multiple cancers in men and women with this vaccine,” said Dr. Anna Giuliano, founding director of the Center for Infection Research in Cancer at Tampa’s Moffitt Cancer Center.

Nearly all sexually active adults carry some of HPV’s 170 active strains. Most are harmless, but a few are known to cause cancer. Reproductive cancers of the cervix, vagina, vulva and anus are most common, but HPV is also the cause of 72 percent of oropharyngeal cancers, which can impact the base of the tongue, tonsils and walls of the pharynx.

Because of this, the sexual stigma attached to the vaccine makes it difficult for physicians to talk to worried parents about it. Sometimes, it’s hard to convince them to give the shot to their 10- or 11-year-old child, said Dr. Ellen Daley, a professor studying women’s health at the University of South Florida.

In addition, according to physicians and researchers, anti-vaccination groups have spread fear and misinformation about the vaccination online, with stories of health problems including deaths.

“No, it’s not causing autism and no, it’s not causing your kid to walk backwards,” Daley said. “It’s a very, very researched vaccine, but I think when people are not ready to trust something, there’s nothing you can say to make them change their mind. It’s a tough group to break into.”

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Tampa Bay Times: Yes it’s awkward, but more dentists should talk to patients about oral cancers and sex

By Justine Griffin

Dentists and dental hygienists see nearly 85 percent of children and their parents in the U.S., making them an important group of health care providers who could address HPV prevention and detection -- even if the conversation can be awkward, says Ellen Daley, a professor studying women's health at the University of South Florida. [DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times]

Dentists may soon be prying deeper in their patients’ sex lives.

The human papillomavirus, or HPV, is now the most common sexually transmitted disease, and one local researcher is urging dentists to get on board to warn patients about it.

But talking about HPV — and how it can be spread through oral sex — can be awkward.

“This is an emerging topic for dentists and not really one they ever expected to have to talk about,” said Ellen Daley, the lead investigator of a recent study on this topic published in the Journal of the American Dental Association this month. “It’s controversial and uncomfortable. No one wants to talk about these sensitive topics.”

HPV is the cause of 72 percent of oropharyngeal cancers, which can impact the base of the tongue, tonsils and walls of the pharynx, said Daley, who is also a professor studying women’s health at the University of South Florida.

Younger patients, usually pre-teens and teens, are the most at risk for HPV. But the virus can also be dormant for years, which could impact older patients who won’t necessarily experience symptoms for many years.

It’s transmitted during vaginal, anal or oral sex with someone who has the virus.

Nearly 80 million people — or about one in four — are currently infected with HPV in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 14 million people become infected each year, and 30,700 of those cases cause cancer in men and women.

The HPV vaccine can prevent most of those cancers, or 28,000 of them. An estimated 50,000 cases of oral type cancers will be diagnosed this year, according to the American Cancer Society.

The Florida Legislature is currently considering companion bills in the House and Senate that could add the HPV vaccine to the child immunization requirements for school.

Read more here.