Letitia Stein
St. Petersburg Times
06/01/2010
On their next visit to the pediatrician, parents of adolescent boys may be asked if they want their sons to get an expensive vaccine they’ve never before considered — the HPV shot.
Recently approved for boys, the three-dose immunization has been given to girls to prevent cervical cancer, often caused by the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus.
Many parents of girls still are not convinced their daughters should get the vaccine, despite new scientific evidence of its safety. For boys, there are even more questions.
What is known: Getting your son vaccinated will protect him against genital warts. A Moffitt Cancer Center researcher studying the vaccine is among scientists who are learning that it may also reduce boys’ risk of certain cancers. And the vaccine could protect a boy’s future sexual partners from HPV infections.
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