Preventing HPV in Elizabethtown, KY

HPV is the human papillomavirus.

It is a virus that is, very common, affecting approximately eighty five percent of people throughout their life. Everyone's at risk, both men and women. So initially, people used to associate it more with women thinking about cervical cancer, but it is also found in men causing other types of cancer including oropharyngeal, anal, and rectal cancers. Unlike other sexually transmitted infections that are often transmitted by bodily fluids, HPV is transmitted through intimate skin to skin contact.

For prevention, we do have an HPV vaccine. It has been, highly tested and reviewed over the last fifteen years. It'd been found to be safe. It is typically given around eleven or twelve years of age, but it is FDA approved to give up until the age of forty five for both men and women for those typically that are at a high risk.

We prefer to get that vaccine in the child's system before they are at that increased risk with being sexually active. If the first dose of the HPV vaccine is given before the age of fifteen, it is a two dose series. One is given, and then six to twelve months later, a second dose is given. This gives you complete immunization, and you should not need any boosters later in life.

In summary, it's very important to have this discussion with your or your child's primary care provider to discuss the risk and benefits of the HPV vaccine and to discuss the complications that can occur down the line from having an HPV infection.