Benefits of the HPV Vaccine

Pediatrician Lisa Stern, MD, shares advice for parents on the benefits of having your child vaccinated for HPV and when the best age is to vaccinate your child in order to keep him or her protected
The Benefits Of The HPV Vaccine For Children
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Benefits of the HPV Vaccine

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There are a lot of good reasons to give the HPV vaccine. First and foremost, HPV is rampant. 60% of young men have antibodies to the virus, which means at some point they had the virus and they could transmit it. You don't always know when you have HPV; it's not visual to the naked eye. So young men may be transmitting it without even knowing it. The issue about what the timing of the vaccine is on parents' minds. Do you give it early or do you give it later? The reason why I think that it's a good idea to give it earlier is that 25% of all first sexual encounters are unplanned. And that's hard to accept as a parent that your child may have a sexual encounter at 13 or 14 years of age. But the truth is that's what happens. And since you can't always plan for it, I think it's better to probably vaccinate your child at 12 or 13 years of age.

Pediatrician Lisa Stern, MD, shares advice for parents on the benefits of having your child vaccinated for HPV and when the best age is to vaccinate your child in order to keep him or her protected

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Lisa Stern, MD

Pediatrician

Dr. Lisa is a pediatrician at Tenth Street Pediatrics in Santa Monica. Following her training at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and UCLA Medical Center she began to practice a style of medicine that encourages a common sense approach to health and wellness. She empowers parents to use the resources available to them and teaches them to trust their own judgment. She feels strongly that people come to parenthood with their own history and it is valuable to have a objective third party to discuss the big and small issues that parents face on a daily basis. Lisa's patients range from healthy children to those with complex medical histories.

 

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Transcription: 
There are a lot of good reasons to give the HPV vaccine. First and foremost, HPV is rampant. 60% of young men have antibodies to the virus, which means at some point they had the virus and they could transmit it. You don't always know when you have HPV; it's not visual to the naked eye. So young men may be transmitting it without even knowing it. The issue about what the timing of the vaccine is on parents' minds. Do you give it early or do you give it later? The reason why I think that it's a good idea to give it earlier is that 25% of all first sexual encounters are unplanned. And that's hard to accept as a parent that your child may have a sexual encounter at 13 or 14 years of age. But the truth is that's what happens. And since you can't always plan for it, I think it's better to probably vaccinate your child at 12 or 13 years of age.