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Comment by avidphantasm | Hacker News Reader

Anecdote here, but…In the US you can get vaccinated for HPV until I think age 45. I did it a few years ago at age 40. I used to get bad ulcers in the back of my throat 3-4 times per year, now I rarely do. Hoping that this means the risk of cancer will be reduced as well.

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In Denmark you have to be a man who has sex with men (MSM) to get it as a male.

Don't see why there is a need for discrimination.

Maybe the odds of getting it through cunnilingus are a lot lower than through fellatio. There's no possibility of throat contact in the former case and what seems like a short distance to us might be an impassible obstacle for a virus.

Yes, but if the man has it, his partner will likely also get it.

Apparently cunnilingus contributed to Michael Douglas getting throat cancer.

I had forgotten about that. That does make the decision harder to understand, unless there's a strong statistical tilt backing it up.

Anecdotes aren't data, and one film star getting oral cancer does not an epidemic make.

Plus, as a good looking actor, I'm sure that mouth of his was getting a lot of use compared to the average person; the 1% of rug munchers. His risk profile may be a wildly uncommon exception, and as a rich dude he can pay for whatever medical stuff he needs out of pocket.

Pretty much all vaccines (and most medicines and health interventions in general) have the possibility for adverse reactions and side effects. Health agencies will often balance the likelihood of adverse effects against how likely various population groups are to get a disease (and how serious the symptoms of the disease are).

Don't think that's the case here. In Australia they give it to everyone in high school. The vaccine is most effective when taken as an early teenager. So it makes way more sense to do it to everyone early than wait to see who is gay and sexually active when it's less effective.

Seems pretty easy to lie in that case? I’m assuming they don’t make you prove it?

They didn't in my case.

Almost 40 here and my doctor recommended I get it since my father died of throat cancer and I couldn't recall if I'd ever been vaccinated for HPV. Here's hoping!

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