Medical experts urge U.S. military to demand vaccination against carcinogenic virus

Staff Army Sergeant Dena Revali, Immunization by 27th Special Operations Medical Operations Squadron NCOIC, 27th Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Lieutenant, Gardasil at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, May 29, 2012 Vaccination. The vaccine protects against four types of HPV. .. Surgeons say the mandatory new vaccine for active troops will prevent most cervical cancers in women and stop the rising trend of cancer in men’s throats. (Alexxis Pons Abascal / US Air Force)

Surgeons and public health officials are advocating new vaccine obligations for active military personnel, who say they prevent most cervical cancers in women and slow the rise of the threat of cancer in men’s throat.

Above all Resistance to the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccination obligation, They are urging all active troops up to the age of 26 to be vaccinated against HPV if they have not yet been vaccinated.

The editorial in the latest issue of the Journal Military Medicine describes some of the many vaccinations already needed by service members. “It’s time for the military to add the HPV vaccine to the list,” he claims.

“More than half of the 1.3 million service members in the catch-up vaccination age range under the age of 26 are ready to make a significant impact through vaccination of mandatory active service members,” the editorial said.

In an interview, Major Erica Hope, a gynecological oncologist at the Brook Army Medical Center, who co-authored the editorial, said that mandating a vaccine could prevent many illnesses, distress, and associated costs. ..

“Australia mandated HPV vaccines for school children in 2007. They are expected to completely eliminate cervical cancer in 20 years,” Hope said. “We were able to do the same.”

October Military Medicine Article “HPV-related cancers: heightened threat to US military health and readinessThe number of cases of HPV-related throat and anal cancer has “dramatically increased over the last 20 years, and throat cancer has overtaken cervical cancer to become the most common HPV-related cancer in the United States.” “.

The majority of HPV-related laryngeal cancers are found in white men, and some studies have shown an increased risk for veterans.

Certain strains of HPV cause more than 90% of cervical cancers and about 70% of laryngeal cancers. It is estimated that 80% of adults will be infected at some point.

The HPV vaccine was first recommended for middle school girls because it was available 15 years ago and was most effective before people became sexually active and exposed to the virus.

Similar to Hawaii, Rhode Island, Virginia, and the District of Columbia in the United States, some countries require immunity to school children. Currently, this vaccine is recommended for people up to the age of 45.

However, despite the excellent safety and efficacy profile of the vaccine, uptake was low.

Using data from the 2010-2018 National Health Interview Survey, only 42% of women aged 18-21 years received at least one vaccine that required two doses at 6-month intervals. I estimated. Only 16% of men of that age received at least one dose.

“There was this stigma around the vaccine, and so was the man,” Hope said. “They just think it’s a female illness.”

Service members’ HPV vaccination rates are lower than civilian rates, with only 26% of active women aged 17-26 years receiving one vaccination and less than half of women receiving a second vaccination. I am reporting. Only 6% of active men of the same age reported that even one shot was shot.

“The vaccination rate for women is low,” Hope said. “But for men, that’s terrible. That’s clearly a big missing part of us.”

Harald zur Hausen, a German virologist who won the Nobel Prize for demonstrating the relationship between HPV and cervical cancer and laying the foundation for the vaccine, is a super spreader for HPV, so men vaccine as women. It claims that being inoculated is at least equally important. ..

“Around the world, young men between the ages of 15 and 45 have far more sexual partners than girls of the same age group. They transmit the infection relatively easily,” Zuahausen said. I told the dw.com news outlet in Germany.

The HPV vaccine is one of only two existing cancer preventive vaccines. The other is a hepatitis B vaccine that prevents certain types of liver cancer, which has been needed by military recruits since 2002.

Vaccine obligations deal not only with cancer, but also with the time, trauma and costs of dealing with precancerous female army found in routine health examinations, Hope said.

“All these Papanicolaou stains, biopsies, it requires a lot of visits, and it takes a lot of money and a lot of time away from work,” she said. “Before deployment, there were many patients with abnormal Papanicolaou stain specimens. Deployment may be delayed.”