Get your HPV vaccine

It is alarming that only 34 percent of girls and less than 7 percent of boys have been vaccinated for Human Papilloma Virus in the United States.

These rates are embarrassingly low.

So low, in fact, that they’re less than half of Rwanda’s rate.

HPV is a sexually transmited virus known to cause certain types of cervical cancer and is linked to other cancers in the head and neck, as well as vaginal, vulvar, anal and penile cancers.

Remember Michael Douglas’ purportedly cunnilingus-induced throat cancer?
If it indeed was a result of oral sex, HPV likely played a role.

Vaccines like Gardasil have been shown to prevent certain strains of HPV when administered to people between 9 and 26 years old, though health professionals recommend the vaccination be routine for all girls between 11 and 12.

But parents aren’t vaccinating their kids, likely because they are uncomfortable acknowledging that someday their little boy or girl will be sexually active.

Of those parents who did not vaccinate their daughters, 10 percent said it was because their daughter was not sexually active, despite the fact that the vaccine is most effective if all three shots are taken before the subject starts having sex.

And because HPV most obviously affects gay men, sometimes leading to anal cancer, parents are even more hesitant to follow recommendations to vaccinate their sons.

The problem is particularly potent in the South, where religious attitudes about sex and sexuality, along with misinformation campaigns, often cloud people’s judgments.

The Hoosier state has seen its fair share of these problems and remains a cautionary tale when it comes to sexual health.

There is no law mandating sex education in our public schools, but if schools are so inclined to acknowledge that sex exists, statutes require that abstinence be stressed.

Indiana also has a history of accepting federal funding for abstinence-only sex education, which barred any instruction from contraceptive education.

Naturally, our teens have sex more than the national average, and they use condoms less.

We’re not faring any better when it comes to the HPV vaccination.

Ours was a state where the Michele Bachman-like insistence that HPV vaccine causes mental retardation really took hold.

A woman from Hobart, Ind., claims the seizure her daughter experienced 14 days after her first HPV vaccination was directly caused by the shot.

With cases like these, it is important to remember that correlation does not equal causation.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most serious reported side effects of the vaccine were headaches, nausea and fainting.

Of course, sensational and horrifying claims against vaccines are much more memorable than factual reports on safety and effectiveness.

Let me reiterate — the HPV vaccine helps prevent cancer.

People are dying because we are uninformed and squeamish about getting a few shots.

We need more positive awareness campaigns. Schools need to do a better job informing parents of the benefits and safety of the vaccine.

Young adults who haven’t been vaccinated should take charge of their health.

For most IU students, it’s not too late.

The IU Health Center and Bloomington Planned Parenthood both offer HPV vaccinations.

Get your first shot today.

­— casefarr@indiana.edu
Follow columnist Casey Farrington on Twitter @casefarr.