Television is making me anxious about sex 鈥斅爉ore anxious than usual.
I keep seeing featuring young people asking their parents why they didn鈥檛 get the vaccine to protect against the human papillomavirus 鈥� HPV. If you鈥檙e unfamiliar with HPV, it鈥檚 a sexually transmitted infection that has been linked to various cancers, including cervical cancer in women.
I didn鈥檛 get vaccinated. So lately I鈥檝e been wondering: Now that I鈥檓 29, is it too late for me to get the vaccine?
I found out about HPV eight years ago when a college girlfriend got immunized. Back then, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention only recommended the vaccine for girls and young women between the ages of 11 and 26. , they said, to try to reach girls before they become sexually active. The vaccine is also more effective at a younger age.
At the time, I remember thinking that limiting it to females was strange 鈥� after all, males still spread HPV, right? But with my partner vaccinated, I let it go. I didn鈥檛 know HPV could cause health problems for men.
But HPV absolutely affects men. It causes genital warts and is as a leading cause of cancers in the back of the mouth and throat, the area called the oropharynx. The CDC now estimates about 70 percent of all may be caused by HPV, including roughly 12,600 cases in men each year.
鈥淭here are now more oropharynx cancers in men in the United States each year than there are cervical cancers in women,鈥� said聽, a surgeon and researcher at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
And there鈥檚 no way to screen for oropharyngeal cancer, so Sturgis says most people catch it late.
鈥淭ypically it鈥檚 a man, while he鈥檚 shaving,鈥� said Sturgis. 鈥淗e notices a lump in his neck. That means it鈥檚 already a cancer that has spread.鈥�
HPV also puts men at risk for cancers of the anus and penis. Those are rare, but still make me anxious.
So, for men like me who missed the vaccine, is it still worth it?
The answer is complicated. In 2011, the CDC began recommending the vaccine for males ages 11 through 21 years old (26 for some high-risk groups).
Despite my age, researchers I talked to said that the vaccine could still help 鈥� if I haven鈥檛 already been exposed.
But therein lies a complication. An estimated of sexually active people will be exposed to HPV by age 45. In most people, the virus goes away on its own after two years. For men, there鈥檚 no commercially available test to find out if you have been exposed. Women can be checked for HPV exposure as part of a Pap test.
To have 80 percent of sexually active young adults exposed sounds bleak. But there鈥檚 a caveat: 鈥淭here are several dozen types of HPV that infect the genital region,鈥� said psychologist , who co-directs the Center for HPV Research in Indianapolis. Only a fraction of those cause cancer or warts, and the latest version of the vaccine Gardasil protects against nine of those HPV types 鈥� the ones responsible for a vast majority of HPV-related problems.
So let鈥檚 say 鈥� hypothetically 鈥� you鈥檙e kind of shy and haven鈥檛 had that many partners. Is it possible you鈥檝e been spared?
鈥淭he chances you鈥檝e been exposed to all nine types are actually vanishingly small,鈥� said聽, a microbiologist who studies HPV and HPV vaccines at the National Cancer Institute.
Schiller said the vaccine might not be a bad idea for someone outside the CDC鈥檚 recommended age range. Still, it鈥檚 not cheap.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e past the age where your health insurance is going to pay for it,鈥� said Schiller, so getting the vaccine isn鈥檛 imperative 鈥� it鈥檚 a personal decision.
鈥淧eace of mind for you may be worth more than it is for some other people,鈥� he told me.
So, I got the vaccine. It鈥檚 costing $130 out of pocket per dose, and the CDC recommends three shots. But it could help me, even if it just calms my anxious inner voice. And it might keep me from spreading the virus to someone else.
This story is part of a partnership that includes , and Kaiser Health News.