Dr. Barbieri is Editor in Chief, OBG Management; Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; and Kate Macy Ladd Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School, Boston.
Dr. Barbieri reports no financial relationships relevant to this article.
No study has yet proven that HPV vaccination reduces the risk of developing oropharyngeal cancer, but one study demonstrated that vaccination of girls against HPV types 16 and 18 reduced oral carriage of HPV 16 and HPV 18 by 93%.21 Vaccinating boys against HPV has been reported to be cost effective because it could reduce the high health care expenditures associated with treating oropharyngeal cancer.22
Will you be an immunization champion? Although HPV vaccination reduces the disease burden of cervical, vulvar, vaginal, and anal neoplasia, the CDC reported that, as of 2013, only 38% of girls and 14% of boys in the United States had received 3 doses of HPV vaccine.23 The realization that oropharyngeal cancer caused by HPV is rapidly increasing may provide another catalyst to redouble our efforts to increase the vaccination rates for both boys and girls.
zur Hausen and many other experts have passionately advocated for vaccinating all boys and girls in order to maximize the beneficial effects of HPV vaccination.24 Every clinician can become an immunization champion by advocating that all boys and girls be vaccinated against HPV.
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