Comment by stared | Hacker News Reader

Comment by stared | Hacker News Reader

There is recent research showing that it can (slightly) help even during HPV infection, see "Effect of HPV Vaccination on Virus Disappearance in Cervical Samples of a Cohort of HPV-Positive Polish Patients", J Clin Med (2023) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38137661/.

Also, the eligibility criterion of not vaccinating people above certain age is NOT valid. I mean, sooner better. But if you are adult and there is any chance that you ever get a new sexual parter, get a vaccine.

90% people with get at least one HPV strain in their life. 10-30% people have at least one HPV strain right now.

(I recommend doing PCR test with strains genotyping. I do it periodically.)

Sure, our organism usually gets rid of such on 1-3 years, with no consequences. Yet, vaccine boosts your immunity.

Also, over 50% of cases of throat cancer are HPV-lead. So if you have male body, also vaccinate - both to protect others and yourself. Ideally for 9 strains, but HPV 16 and HPV 18 are by far the most important.

A few more links: https://pinboard.in/u:pmigdal/t:hpv

> any chance that you ever get a new sexual parter, get a vaccine.

Not only that - I learned recently that you can contract certain strains from a shower floor [1]

[1] https://dermnetnz.org/topics/non-sexually-acquired-human-pap...

> Also, the eligibility criterion of not vaccinating people above certain age is NOT valid. I mean, sooner better. But if you are adult and there is any chance that you ever get a new sexual parter, get a vaccine.

The eligibility criterion has primary been about controlling cost to focus about the groups where the societal effect is greatest.

I expect it may gradually get broadened, but most places you can also get it privately even if you fall outside those ages.

E.g. in the UK, most private providers will vaccinate you up to 45, and at least some private providers will give you the vaccine with no upper age limit (and a lower age limit of 9) at a relatively reasonable cost (~180 pounds per dose - 2 to 3 doses)

Prioritization makes a lot of sense.

At the same time, guidelines go differently, e.g. "Vaccination is not recommended for everyone older than age 26 years." from https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/hpv/hcp/recommendations.htm.... These things propagate among doctors and most of them do not recommend vaccination (contrary to modern research data!)

Thanks! I wanted to talk about the effect on already infected individuals in my comment, but I couldn't find the study so I didn't say anything just in case I was misremembering it...

My doctor mentioned that. But also here ChatGPT was helpful to find these (linked a few similar studies).

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