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Who Needs HPV Vaccinations and Why
Human papilloma virus, also known as HPV, vaccinations protect men and women against cancers and infections.
Featured Speaker:
Learn more about Kristine Penner, MD
Learn more about Long Beach Memorial
Kristine Penner, MD
Kristine Penner, MD, MPH, MS, is the medical director of gynecologic oncology at the MemorialCare Todd Cancer Institute at Long Beach Memorial. Dr. Penner specializes in the diagnosis and comprehensive treatment of cancers of the female pelvic organs, with special interests in minimally invasive surgery and medical management of endometrial cancer.Learn more about Kristine Penner, MD
Learn more about Long Beach Memorial
Transcription:
Who Needs HPV Vaccinations and Why
Deborah Howell (Host): And welcome to the show. I am Deborah Howell, and today we’ll be talking about vaccinations that can protect us against cancers and infections. Our guest is Dr. Kristine Penner, medical director of the Gynecology/Oncology Program at MemorialCare Todd Cancer Institute at Long Beach Memorial. Welcome, Dr. Penner.
Dr. Kristine Penner, MD (Guest): Thank you for having me.
Deborah: So glad you're here today. Let’s jump right in. What is HPV?
Dr. Penner: Well, HPV is the human papillomavirus, and it is a very prevalent virus that has all sorts of different strains, we call it, that are numbered with different numbers, and many forms of HPV just exist and don’t cause problems, but there are some specific strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV, that can cause some kinds of cancer.
Deborah: God.
Dr. Penner: And also things like genital warts and so forth.
Deborah: Ok. And what types of cancers are we talking about?
Dr. Penner: HPV infections are best known for causing cervical cancer, but they can also cause other types of cancer. Cancers of the vagina, of the vulva – that’s in women – of the penis in men, and of the anus and the back of the throat in both men and women – including the back of the throat and the tongue and tonsils. It actually causes more than 30,000 cancers in men and women in the United States each year, HPV does.
Melanie: Wow. So something we definitely don’t want to contend with if we do not have to. So, now the great news is, there is a vaccination, so what does the HPV vaccination protect against?
Dr. Penner: Right. So there are many different forms of the HPV vaccine that range in how many different strains they protect against. They all protect against the two that we're most concerned about, which are HPV 16 and 18, which are responsible for the vast majority of the cancers that are related to HPV, but there are different forms of the HPV vaccine that also include up to even nine different strains of HPV including those that can cause things like genital warts and so forth.
Deborah: Sounds pretty complex. So at what age should children be starting to think about getting the vaccination?
Dr. Penner: The best case is when children can get vaccinated before they’ve started any form of sexual activity, even things like oral intercourse, as well as vaginal or penile or anal intercourse, before any of that has been started at all. The ideal would be that children get vaccinated because we never know when children are going to become sexually active. We recommend starting around 9 years old, and ideally before the age of 14 that both boys and girls be vaccinated for HPV.
Deborah: Just to be safe, yes. Okay.
Dr. Penner: Absolutely.
Deborah: And, how long is the series of shots?
Dr. Penner: Well, originally, the shots were a three shot series, but just last year, it was found that at least in younger people, children, in that 9 to 14 range, that two shots likely may be just as effective as three shots and so the two shots are given about six months apart ideally, and that has been shown to have long-term effectiveness. Now, we're still trying to figure out if booster shots will be needed later in life…
Deborah: Um hm.
Dr. Penner: …down the road, and that’s information that we're still gathering over time as we follow people 10, 20, 30 years down the road.
Deborah: And that’s what I was going to ask, number of decades. Okay. Now, we understand – 10, 20, 30 – but in the meantime for 10 to 20 probably then, this is protection?
Dr. Penner: Exactly. What we’ve seen is definitely in that, at least, that 15 year range, we do think that the two or three dose schedule should be adequate for protection in that time period.
Deborah: And doctor, why is it important for boys and girls to get the HPV vaccination series?
Dr. Penner: So, originally the vaccine was approved only in girls because the primary outcome we’ve been looking at was cervical pre-cancers and cervical cancer. There are two reasons that boys were added on. The first is that – well actually three. So, one is that both boys and girls can definitely get genital warts, which, while not life-threatening, can be quite visibly damaging, require treatment, and so forth…
Deborah: Um hm.
Dr. Penner: …and that is a benefit that both boys and girls can have from the vaccine. Second is as I mentioned, it's not only cancers of the female varietal, the cervix, vagina, vulva, but also other things like the penis, the back of the throat, that can, again, apply to boys and/or girls, so, when we're talking about the back of the throat. And the last thing is that when we're talking about vaccination, the only way to really effectively get rid of something over the long term is to vaccinate all the people who might be affected by it, and by only vaccinating 50% of the population, the likelihood of being able to substantially reduce the amount of these very damaging HPV viruses that are being transmitted is very low. And so by being able to vaccinate both boys and girls, we may get that all of our children and our siblings and our progeny and future generations can hopefully not have to deal with these horrible consequences of the HPV virus.
Deborah: Absolutely. Full coverage. 100% if we can get there.
Dr. Penner: Absolutely.
Deborah: What should young men and women do if they didn’t receive the vaccination or if they didn’t finish the series?
Dr. Penner: Sure. So, thankfully, the vaccine have proved generally for people up to the age of 26. It is covered by insurance and so even if someone has been sexually active, and for women, even if they’ve actually already had an abnormal pap smear, it is still recommended that all women up to the age of 26 and again, depending, different vaccines are approved through different ages, but generally both males and females up to the age of 26 are recommended still to be vaccinated. Even if they have already become sexually active and even if they’ve already had an HPV infection in fact.
Deborah: Okay. And listen, it's five seconds of your life – that’s how long the shot takes right (chuckles)?
Dr. Penner: Absolutely, yes, thankfully.
Deborah: And where can families go to get the HPV vaccination?
Dr. Penner: Well here at Long Beach Memorial, the Vaccine Hub is an easy location. That phone number is 562-933-0298, but any primary care provider or pediatrician should have access to the HPV vaccine and should be able to provide that or if they are unable to, provide information where you or your children may receive the HPV vaccine.
Deborah: It's so, so important.
Dr. Penner: Absolutely. We – it’s a goal of ours here at Long Beach Memorial and throughout the cancer community to spread the word of the value and the importance of the HPV in preventing many, many different kinds of cancers. It’s always incredibly sad for us to see people with cancers we know could have been prevented.
Deborah: Absolutely, and once again, as young as 9, but certainly by age of 14, get the vaccination.
Dr. Penner: That’s exactly correct.
Deborah: Okay. There must be some myths and fears that go along with this vaccination. Could you address some of those?
Dr. Penner: Absolutely. So, I think any vaccination obviously especially in this day and age people have concerns about side effects and so forth. Thankfully, extensive, extensive studies and thousands of children have been performed showing how safe the vaccine is. The most common potential side effects are, you know, obviously some discomfort in the area, redness. Very low risk of any sort of side effect has been shown over time. I think the other thing that makes people concerned is the thought that this is related to something sexual, and so, as I speak to people about this, whether they be my patients or my family members or friends, I try to really focus it as a cancer prevention and something that they can think of in that regard, and that while obviously many of us would have a difficult time thinking of a nine-year-old and thinking of their future sexual activity, that the focus should be on – no, this is something to keep them safe for the rest of their lives. Even should they wait 20 years to become sexually active from that time forward.
Deborah: Right.
Dr. Penner: And so the hope would be that physicians provide this as part of routine vaccination for all of their patients and that if parents do have concerns or questions, we always want them to share those with us, and we're happy to discuss those with them.
Deborah: Well, Dr. Penner, you make a great case for doing this for your kids, for their well-being and, you know, the health of their entire lives and as the research comes in we’ll find out if we need booster later on, but certainly this is something we can do now.
Dr. Penner: Absolutely.
Deborah: Thank you so much, for your time and your expertise today, Dr. Penner. We really appreciate it.
Dr. Penner: Absolutely. My pleasure.
Deborah: For more info or to listen to a podcast of this show please visit memorialcare.org. That’s memorialcare.org. I'm going to give a phone number one more time for the Vaccine Hub at Long Beach Memorial, which offers the HPV vaccination. Appointments can be made by calling 562-933-0298, and also most pediatrician offices also offer the vaccination. That's all for this time. I'm Deborah Howell. Have yourself a terrific day.
Who Needs HPV Vaccinations and Why
Deborah Howell (Host): And welcome to the show. I am Deborah Howell, and today we’ll be talking about vaccinations that can protect us against cancers and infections. Our guest is Dr. Kristine Penner, medical director of the Gynecology/Oncology Program at MemorialCare Todd Cancer Institute at Long Beach Memorial. Welcome, Dr. Penner.
Dr. Kristine Penner, MD (Guest): Thank you for having me.
Deborah: So glad you're here today. Let’s jump right in. What is HPV?
Dr. Penner: Well, HPV is the human papillomavirus, and it is a very prevalent virus that has all sorts of different strains, we call it, that are numbered with different numbers, and many forms of HPV just exist and don’t cause problems, but there are some specific strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV, that can cause some kinds of cancer.
Deborah: God.
Dr. Penner: And also things like genital warts and so forth.
Deborah: Ok. And what types of cancers are we talking about?
Dr. Penner: HPV infections are best known for causing cervical cancer, but they can also cause other types of cancer. Cancers of the vagina, of the vulva – that’s in women – of the penis in men, and of the anus and the back of the throat in both men and women – including the back of the throat and the tongue and tonsils. It actually causes more than 30,000 cancers in men and women in the United States each year, HPV does.
Melanie: Wow. So something we definitely don’t want to contend with if we do not have to. So, now the great news is, there is a vaccination, so what does the HPV vaccination protect against?
Dr. Penner: Right. So there are many different forms of the HPV vaccine that range in how many different strains they protect against. They all protect against the two that we're most concerned about, which are HPV 16 and 18, which are responsible for the vast majority of the cancers that are related to HPV, but there are different forms of the HPV vaccine that also include up to even nine different strains of HPV including those that can cause things like genital warts and so forth.
Deborah: Sounds pretty complex. So at what age should children be starting to think about getting the vaccination?
Dr. Penner: The best case is when children can get vaccinated before they’ve started any form of sexual activity, even things like oral intercourse, as well as vaginal or penile or anal intercourse, before any of that has been started at all. The ideal would be that children get vaccinated because we never know when children are going to become sexually active. We recommend starting around 9 years old, and ideally before the age of 14 that both boys and girls be vaccinated for HPV.
Deborah: Just to be safe, yes. Okay.
Dr. Penner: Absolutely.
Deborah: And, how long is the series of shots?
Dr. Penner: Well, originally, the shots were a three shot series, but just last year, it was found that at least in younger people, children, in that 9 to 14 range, that two shots likely may be just as effective as three shots and so the two shots are given about six months apart ideally, and that has been shown to have long-term effectiveness. Now, we're still trying to figure out if booster shots will be needed later in life…
Deborah: Um hm.
Dr. Penner: …down the road, and that’s information that we're still gathering over time as we follow people 10, 20, 30 years down the road.
Deborah: And that’s what I was going to ask, number of decades. Okay. Now, we understand – 10, 20, 30 – but in the meantime for 10 to 20 probably then, this is protection?
Dr. Penner: Exactly. What we’ve seen is definitely in that, at least, that 15 year range, we do think that the two or three dose schedule should be adequate for protection in that time period.
Deborah: And doctor, why is it important for boys and girls to get the HPV vaccination series?
Dr. Penner: So, originally the vaccine was approved only in girls because the primary outcome we’ve been looking at was cervical pre-cancers and cervical cancer. There are two reasons that boys were added on. The first is that – well actually three. So, one is that both boys and girls can definitely get genital warts, which, while not life-threatening, can be quite visibly damaging, require treatment, and so forth…
Deborah: Um hm.
Dr. Penner: …and that is a benefit that both boys and girls can have from the vaccine. Second is as I mentioned, it's not only cancers of the female varietal, the cervix, vagina, vulva, but also other things like the penis, the back of the throat, that can, again, apply to boys and/or girls, so, when we're talking about the back of the throat. And the last thing is that when we're talking about vaccination, the only way to really effectively get rid of something over the long term is to vaccinate all the people who might be affected by it, and by only vaccinating 50% of the population, the likelihood of being able to substantially reduce the amount of these very damaging HPV viruses that are being transmitted is very low. And so by being able to vaccinate both boys and girls, we may get that all of our children and our siblings and our progeny and future generations can hopefully not have to deal with these horrible consequences of the HPV virus.
Deborah: Absolutely. Full coverage. 100% if we can get there.
Dr. Penner: Absolutely.
Deborah: What should young men and women do if they didn’t receive the vaccination or if they didn’t finish the series?
Dr. Penner: Sure. So, thankfully, the vaccine have proved generally for people up to the age of 26. It is covered by insurance and so even if someone has been sexually active, and for women, even if they’ve actually already had an abnormal pap smear, it is still recommended that all women up to the age of 26 and again, depending, different vaccines are approved through different ages, but generally both males and females up to the age of 26 are recommended still to be vaccinated. Even if they have already become sexually active and even if they’ve already had an HPV infection in fact.
Deborah: Okay. And listen, it's five seconds of your life – that’s how long the shot takes right (chuckles)?
Dr. Penner: Absolutely, yes, thankfully.
Deborah: And where can families go to get the HPV vaccination?
Dr. Penner: Well here at Long Beach Memorial, the Vaccine Hub is an easy location. That phone number is 562-933-0298, but any primary care provider or pediatrician should have access to the HPV vaccine and should be able to provide that or if they are unable to, provide information where you or your children may receive the HPV vaccine.
Deborah: It's so, so important.
Dr. Penner: Absolutely. We – it’s a goal of ours here at Long Beach Memorial and throughout the cancer community to spread the word of the value and the importance of the HPV in preventing many, many different kinds of cancers. It’s always incredibly sad for us to see people with cancers we know could have been prevented.
Deborah: Absolutely, and once again, as young as 9, but certainly by age of 14, get the vaccination.
Dr. Penner: That’s exactly correct.
Deborah: Okay. There must be some myths and fears that go along with this vaccination. Could you address some of those?
Dr. Penner: Absolutely. So, I think any vaccination obviously especially in this day and age people have concerns about side effects and so forth. Thankfully, extensive, extensive studies and thousands of children have been performed showing how safe the vaccine is. The most common potential side effects are, you know, obviously some discomfort in the area, redness. Very low risk of any sort of side effect has been shown over time. I think the other thing that makes people concerned is the thought that this is related to something sexual, and so, as I speak to people about this, whether they be my patients or my family members or friends, I try to really focus it as a cancer prevention and something that they can think of in that regard, and that while obviously many of us would have a difficult time thinking of a nine-year-old and thinking of their future sexual activity, that the focus should be on – no, this is something to keep them safe for the rest of their lives. Even should they wait 20 years to become sexually active from that time forward.
Deborah: Right.
Dr. Penner: And so the hope would be that physicians provide this as part of routine vaccination for all of their patients and that if parents do have concerns or questions, we always want them to share those with us, and we're happy to discuss those with them.
Deborah: Well, Dr. Penner, you make a great case for doing this for your kids, for their well-being and, you know, the health of their entire lives and as the research comes in we’ll find out if we need booster later on, but certainly this is something we can do now.
Dr. Penner: Absolutely.
Deborah: Thank you so much, for your time and your expertise today, Dr. Penner. We really appreciate it.
Dr. Penner: Absolutely. My pleasure.
Deborah: For more info or to listen to a podcast of this show please visit memorialcare.org. That’s memorialcare.org. I'm going to give a phone number one more time for the Vaccine Hub at Long Beach Memorial, which offers the HPV vaccination. Appointments can be made by calling 562-933-0298, and also most pediatrician offices also offer the vaccination. That's all for this time. I'm Deborah Howell. Have yourself a terrific day.