What is the best HPV preventive strategy for our female and male patients?
With the development and evaluation of many other prevention strategies, including hepatitis B vaccines, we have learned that universal, sex-neutral vaccination induces herd immunity thereby significantly reducing transmission of disease.3 Should we not vaccinate men as well as women? Given how this disease is spread, we could significantly reduce a woman’s risk of cervical cancer through immunizing all adolescents. We made a similar public health decision years ago in immunizing all children to prevent mumps orchitis. We also eradicated polio from most communities. Vaccinating only girls against HPV could be considered akin to vaccinating against Escherichia coli to prevent diarrhea without cleaning the water supply. We might do just that sometimes when we are desperate or when we feel the job is too big or simply beyond our capacity. Is that how we are approaching eradicating cervical cancer? Human papillomavirus disease is not without a significant burden for men—it causes anogenita
