More and more communities are vaccinating children against human papillomavirus: why should they all do it?

In recent months, many autonomous communities joined the initiative to include human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine also in the vaccination schedule for children. Until now, it was mandatory for girls, but if parents wanted to put it on their sons, they had to pay for it. Fortunately, some ministries of health are changing this initiative and doing it in the best way possible, relying on science.

The original argument for using it only in girls was that the human papillomavirus usually does not cause serious illness in men. It is true that in women this is a very important reason development of cervical canceras well as other less common ones such as vulva or vagina. Logically, this does not apply to cis-males, who usually transmit the infection. asymptomatic. However, there are two reasons why they should also be vaccinated.

On the one hand, it is not true that they cannot suffer from serious diseases. The human papillomavirus can also cause cancer of the anus or oropharynx. Since men have an anus and throat and may be involved in sexual intercourse, it is in their own interest to protect themselves. Also, it seems to be related to penile cancer. However, in addition to this, we must not forget that men, even without having an infection, are carriers of the virus. If they have sex with women, even if they don’t even know they are infected, they can infect them and have a higher risk of developing cancer. Thus, there are many reasons for other ministries of health to join in what Galicia, the Valencian Community or Catalonia have already done.

There are many types of human papillomavirus

Before discussing how HPV causes cancer, it is important to note that there is more than one virus. In fact, as such, a group of more than 200 viruses is known, of which the vast majority are transmitted sexy way. But this does not happen by contact with fluids, as with HIV, but by contact with the skin of the mucous membranes. That’s why simple trituration from the penis into the vagina can cause an infection.

All strains of the virus are divided into two groups depending on whether they belong to low or high risk. The first do not cause serious diseases, although they can cause the appearance of warts. In contrast, people at high risk are significantly more likely to develop cancer. Among the latter, the two most dangerous HPV16 and HPV18.

These are all very common viruses. In fact, most sexually active people they become infected with one of them at some point in their lives, usually shortly after they start having sex. And of all those people, about half get one of the high-risk HPVs. Generally, the virus is contained by the virus itself. the immune system affected people. However, sometimes this is not enough, and cancer eventually appears. Therefore, the vaccine is very important to prevent first infections and then the tumors that can be caused by them.

Why does it cause cancer?

Like other viruses, human papillomavirus cannot reproduce on its own. So when it infects a new host, takes over the replication machine from its cells and uses them to create copies of itself. This is the mechanism that cells normally use to replicate their own DNA. The problem is that with this invasion, the genetic material of infected people can be damaged, as a result of which the cells begin to multiply uncontrollably. Thus, the cancer ends up launching.

Today it is considered that Almost all types of cervical cancer They are derived from the human papillomavirus. It is followed by anal cancer, in which 90% of cases They are usually associated with HPV. For others, such as the vagina, the figure stands on 75% followed by 70% represented by the vulva and oropharynx. Finally, it seems that 60% of penile cancers could be due to the human papillomavirus.

However, it is recommended to vaccinate boys and girls before the onset of sexual intercourse. Thus, the immune system itself is given additional help in the fight against this virus, which can cause so much harm. a posteriori. It is unfair that only half of the population has free access to this level of salvation.