One of the suggested vaccinations for young girls/women is the HPV vacination. Does that mean if everyone were vaccinated for HPV then no one would get oral cancer as a result of HPV? If that is the case I will have my son vaccinated. Its the same strain as the std.

Based upon their published success rates with the 4 strains of HPV including 16 and 18 that are responsible for the overwhelming majority of HPV+ SCC IF 100% of all worldwide boys and girls got all 3 HPV shots then it is safe to assume that generation and all that followed who also did the same thing would be HPV free. Unfortunately the chances of that happening are NIL. So the next best thing for our pre sexually active kids would be to get the shots and only have sex with someone who got all 3 shots before they ever came in contact with the virus.

Wouldn't the best thing be abstinence until married? Only one partner that would be your spouse. That would pretty much solve the STD problem. Just my opinion for whatever it is worth.

But can't HPV be transmitted through kissing and mere skin-to-skin touching? Not to mention that the 'abstinence only' ship has pretty much sailed these days.

- Margaret

Let's all live in a bubble too...I really think John Travolta made it look appealing in the 1976 made for TV movie "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble"!

Even though I was 2, I wanted one...

True story...My best friend, brother really, was a virgin until he was 27 and got married. His wife, married once before and had only been with her other husband, had HPV (didn't know it)and my best friends first time resulted in genital warts. After I stopped laughing (just how I'm built) the irony of the situation really sunk in and I realized how bitter my friend was. Even more so now as the woman he's been married to the last 11 years has cervical cancer, diagnosed just 2 days after his mom died of uteran cancer.

In life, shit happens no matter how well prepared you are or the precautions you take...as a young,non-smoking, light drinking, HPV negative oral cancer patient I feel I'm an example of it. My friend certainly is.

Does this mean I'm not for vaccinations? Not at all, but I'm realistic in the fact that even taking the precaution is not a cure all and I've certainly read the stories of bad reactions to the vaccine.

The Bush administration pushed the abstinence program for 8 years with no impact. Behavior cannot be legislated in things like this. The FDA adverse event database is open to all. If I had a kid I would vaccinate them, but this is a personal choice. I also would not believe everything that I read on the internet about the vaccine. It is the wild west of information and truth is often not part of the dialog. I personally think the risk to benefit ratio is worth it. But parents should make the decisions they feel comfortable with, and the government should stay out of it. It's just too bad that most parents will make their decisions with a minimum amount of actual facts.

Passionate kissing has been shown to transfer the virus. So tell your teenagers they can't do this and see what happens. Oral sex isn't the only mechanism of transfer. In other benign HPV's, planters warts on your feet, warts (papillomas) on your hands, etc. are all HPV transfers.

I am bowing out of this conversation. I have a few more comments, but I think they are better left unsaid.

As someone that is frequently asked to lecture about the HPV issue, the vaccine, mechanisms of transfer and more, I would be interested in your observations. If you like, please send me a PM with them.