We had all 3 of our kiddos vaccinated. Watching their Dad go through OC and then me having a hysterectomy, they were all on board! No reactions at all and we have the peace of mind of knowing that they are safe from this particular issue. Just my opinion.
Kathy

16 is the bad guy in most oropharyngeal cancers. While some studies have found 18 in very small numbers, researchers with the highest experience think that this is an "artifact" more than a cause. This means that it was along for the ride but not the active agent, or even an anomaly in the testing process, as the numbers are so small. 18 is a big deal in cervical.

Thanks to everyone for responding. I am going to read the articles suggested to me before I ask any additional questions. My husband has been very open about HPV with his friends, co-workers and family. I have told my family and our children only. I am not concerned that people might know who I am. It is not about me. I didn't want my son to read the following and jump to the wrong conclusion. He had a spot on his tongue for a year but I think much longer. The dentist said that he had never seen anything like that before. He referred him to a general surgical center. The surgeon said that he had never seen anything like it either but he removed it and the biopsy was negative for cancer. That was about 2 years ago and my concern was that my son would read this forum and panic. He is relatively young. I didn't know about OC in men by HPV or I would have had his surgery done by an ENT and I would have asked questions. It ticks me off that the dentist sent us to a general surgeon and I don't think the biopsy checked for HPV at all.

I am not anti-vaccine. My sons girlfriend had the vaccine series a couple of years ago. I think he will have the vaccine and it won't be a problem. It was a Hematologist (in a satellite office of my husbands Oncologist) that made the promiscuous remark about the vaccine. I thought it was ridiculous advice to give a patient. I just wanted him to tell me if it is possible that my blood test issues (over 9 months with no known cause) could possibly be due to HPV. The pap smears have not tested positive but men don't have Pap Smears so what does that mean to a woman?

I haven't read that you can pass the HPV virus to an infant thru childbirth or that a child would develop HPV in a normal childhood. I have not read thru the articles yet that were listed in this thread. I did research this months ago ONLY because my son asked if we passed HPV on to him. I thought it was highly unlikely but I did research it and what I read at that time said it was extremely unlikely. One article listed 'theoretically' how it could happen but the hypothetical items were so unlikely that it was close to laughable. I am not a doctor tho and I haven't read these additional articles.

I believe that a mother can pass HPV on at childbirth resulting in Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP).

Not at all sure what you mean when you said "or that a child would develop HPV in a NORMAL CHILDHOOD". ANY sexual activity can pass the virus even heavy or French kissing. I think I was NORMAL and I started kissing in the 5th grade.

Now, see, that is so sensible. Kissing never even crossed my mind as a vector. Then again, I only had one boyfriend before my husband. And to think people teased because I wasn't interested in casual dating. Then again, I still ended up here. . .

Thank you for the perspective. I have been hating the worry and guilt trip about what I could've done to get this, and you just squashed that in one word. I am really grateful.

Kristen
(somehow the post sounds sarcastic but I genuinely mean that you lifted a load off my mind!)

David, I should not have said childhood. I was specifically trying to find out if I could have passed HPV16 on during childbirth. One article said that HPV16 could possibly be passed if a parent with HPV16 would either masturbate/engage in similar sexual foreplay then immediately went and changed a diaper without first washing their hands. They said it was highly unlikely but possible. It seemed unlikely to me too for many reasons.

As far as I know anyone at any age that engages in sexual activity can acquire any sexually transmitted virus.

There is plenty that I don't understand about HPV but I believe in the vaccine. I want my kids to have the vaccines now.

I still need to read the suggested articles but I should have been clearer in my language and how I say things. I completely disagree with Michele Bachmann and my Hematologists remarks. I hold a very different set of beliefs than those 2 people.

Hi Stacey

HPV is also found as part of the normal childhood development. so you were right the first time

I have found a brilliant FAQ sheet from the American Cancer Society about HPV, cancer and vaccines that should answer all your questions

http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/002780-pdf.pdf

The summary below is taken directly from the sheet and answers as many of your questions as I could remember

HPV is short for human papilloma virus and comprise a group of more than 150 related viruses which ar distinguished from each other by their type. So HPV-16 is human papilloma virus, type 16.

About 75% of all HPVs cause warts on the skin. This might be what you referred to as developing in a normal childhood. I had one as a kid on my index finger for a couple of years and eventually my mother put something on it that turned it black before it finally fell out leaving a crater for a couple of months. These warts are common in kids and are not sexually transmitted.

The other 25% are called mucosal HPVs and are mostly sexually transmitted. They are called mucosal because they are attracted to and grow in the moist skin areas such as vagina, anus, oral cavity etc.

HPV-16 is a mucosal HPV and is sexually transmitted.

As you have already found out, it is possible for a mother to pass HPV onto their newborn ( vertical transmission). According to the faq sheet, it is rare.

The sexually transmitted kind of HPV is also very common and over 14 million people get a new HPV infection every year, approximately half of whom will be in the 15-24 age group.

Nearly all sexually active men and women get HPV at some point in their lives. Most don't know they have/had it.

In the US, you can get the HPV vaccine for both females and males and it is approved from the age of 9 up to the age of 26. I do not know if it is covered by your health insurers though. It is best to get the vaccine before the person becomes sexually active as this is when it works best.

I would recommend that you read the whole sheet a there is a wealth of information and there aren't many questions that it doesn't answer

A new study shows that vaccinating teen girls against HPV has led to a 56 percent decline in cases among young women.

It's interesting that while the rest of the first world is approaching a herd immunity in HPV related protection from cancer, the US is way behind everyone because of the anti vaccine groups using the Internet to spread essentially fear and misinformation.

Here is an article looking at why parent choose not to vaccinate.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2013/03/12/peds.2012-2384.full.pdf+html

Karen, Thank you. The fact sheet did help with many of my questions.

I did a basic Google search just to figure out if Ohio Insurance would cover the vaccine but I won't go into that here. It appears to be a challenge for some states to even pass out educational HPV brochures.