PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Why we should vaccinate boys against HPV as well as girls

Personal view: Vaccinate boys as well as girls against HPV, it works and it may be cost effective

2014-07-30
(Press-News.org) Gillian Prue, from the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen's University of Belfast, says that the human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is common in men and can lead to genital warts and the development of some head and neck, anal or penile cancers. She says incidence of this has increased in the past two decades with HPV causing 5% of all human cancers.

Since September 2008 a free vaccination has been available for 12-13 year old girls in the UK with a catch up programme for girls up to age 18. Australia, the US, Austria and parts of Canada have introduced a vaccination for both boys and girls.

Dr Prue says HPV related disease in men "is associated with considerable burden" and "vaccinating boys is likely to produce health and economic benefits": a study of 4065 males aged 16-25 found the HPV vaccine to prevent genital warts and penile and anal cancer.

She says that with low uptake in girls the "benefit of vaccinating boys is easily apparent" with a European study showing that vaccination of 12 year old boys being associated with substantial clinical benefits such as reduced incidence of HPV-related genital warts and carcinomas.

Prue says vaccinated boys would be protected against non-vaccinated girls and other men whilst also helping to protect girls. She says the current girls-only vaccination leaves men who have sex with men (MSM) at particular risk but warns that a programme targeted at MSM in the UK may limit benefit "because many MSM acquire HPV as teenagers and many have been exposed to HPV already".

Prue concludes that economic costs are also considerable but any decision "should not be based solely on cost effectiveness" and that public health, equity and the human costs of HPV-related diseases "must be the main consideration".

Authors of a linked editorial also ask "What about the boys?". Professor Stanley, Dr O'Mahony and Dr Barton say they "share the Royal College of Surgeons' disappointment" about the lack of response to concerns about the "inequity of vaccinating only girls against HPV".

They say it is easy to see why the programme was initially targeted at young girls but evidence is now "conclusive that HPV also causes oral cancers" with most cases caused by HPV. They add that an estimated "90% of cases of anal cancer in the UK are also linked to HPV infection".

They support Prue's views on MSM adding, however, that a strategy to just vaccinate these men "would be seen to discriminate against young heterosexual men".

They say the only "sensible" answer is a "gender neutral vaccination strategy in schools" and conclude that "if the price is right, we can't afford not to".

INFORMATION:


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Problem drinking in midlife doubles chance of memory problems in later life

2014-07-30
A study published today [Weds July 30] in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry indicates that middle-aged adults with a history of problem drinking are more than twice as likely to suffer from severe memory impairment in later life. The study highlights the hitherto largely unknown link between harmful patterns of alcohol consumption and problems with memory later in life – problems which may place people at a high risk of developing dementia. The study was carried out by researchers from the University of Exeter Medical School with support from the NIHR Collaboration ...

Maternal obesity modulates offspring microflora composition and gastrointestinal functions

2014-07-30
7/29/2014, Seattle, WA. Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, finds that maternal obesity leads to marked changes in the offspring's gastrointestinal microflora composition and gastrointestinal function. The gastrointestinal microflora consists of multiple species of microorganisms that live in the digestive tracts of animals and assists the host in digestion. An imbalance in an individual's microflora is suspected to ...

Is hunger suppression the key to reducing risk of overeating and obesity?

2014-07-30
The failure of some obese individuals to generate or detect adequate signals to stop eating has been frequently been reported in medical science. Researchers at the University of Leeds, UK have devised a simple metric to quantify satiety responsiveness - Satiety Quotient (SQ) – and are applying it to their research to find out why some people struggle to manage their weight and whether certain foods may help to amplify sensations of fullness. In an experiment at the University of Leeds, researchers used the SQ in conjunction with different amounts of whole raw almonds ...

Blood sugar levels closely linked to how our brains respond to the sight of food, twin study finds

2014-07-30
7/29/2014, Seattle, WA. Our brain's response to the sight of food appears to be driven more by how low our blood sugar level is at the moment than our upbringing or genetics, researchers said at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior. "The finding suggest our brains have a way to override our genetic inheritance, upbringing and habits to respond to our immediate nutritional needs," said Dr. Ellen Schur, associate professor of medicine at the University of Washington. In the study, Schur and UW Medicine colleagues at Harborview Medical Center, ...

Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages during adolescence impairs memory

2014-07-30
7/29/2014, Seattle, WA. Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, finds that daily consumption of beverages sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup or sucrose can impair the ability to learn and remember information, particularly when consumption occurs during adolescence. Both adult and adolescent rats were given daily access to sugar-sweetened beverages that mirror sugar concentrations found in common soft drinks. Adult rats ...

Secular and longitudinal trends in dieting strategies in young adult women from 1982 to 2012

2014-07-30
7/29/2014, Seattle, WA. Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behaviors, finds that the younger a woman is when she goes on her first diet, the more likely she is to experience several negative health outcomes later in life. Dieting is very common among girls and young women; however, people often fail to consider the long-term consequences of weight-loss diets, particularly in those who begin dieting at a young age. A team led ...

Striatal dopamine transporter binding correlates with body composition and visual attention bias for food cues in healthy young men

2014-07-30
7/29/2014, Seattle, WA. Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, describes a way that brain chemistry may make some people notice food more easily, which can tempt overeating even in people who are not overweight. Dopamine activity in the striatum, an area of the brain sensitive to food reward, was linked to how quickly men noticed a food picture hidden among neutral pictures. In turn, the men who quickly noticed food pictures ...

Parents' reported food preparation time is inversely associated with energy density

2014-07-30
7/29/2014, Seatle, WA. Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, suggests that the amount time parents spend on food preparation at home influences children's food intake decisions made in the laboratory without parental supervision. "In general, research shows that children tend to eat inadequate amounts of nutrient-rich foods while eating large amounts of sugary and fatty foods," Shehan said. "It's encouraging to see that ...

Research shows impact of soft drinks in meal planning

2014-07-30
Seattle, WA. 7/29/20134. New research by academics in the University of Bristol's Nutrition and Behaviour Unit (NBU) has looked into whether we take liquid calories into account when planning meals. The research, to be presented at the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior Conference (SSIB 2014) in Seattle, USA this week [29 July to 2 August], argues that we do. The team was led by Professor Jeff Brunstrom, and is based in the School of Experimental Psychology. As part of a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) grant, the researchers looked ...

Time of arrival at hospital impacts time to treatment and survival of heart attack patients

2014-07-29
Going to the hospital for a heart attack during evenings, weekends and holidays increases your risk of dying 13 percent compared with people arriving during workday hours, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. Every year, more than 250,000 people experience an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the most severe type of heart attack caused by a complete blockage of blood flow to the heart. To prevent death, it's critical to restore blood flow as quickly as possible by surgically opening ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Cercus electric stimulation enables cockroach with trajectory control and spatial cognition training

Day-long conference addresses difficult to diagnose lung disease

First-ever cardiogenic shock academy features simulation lab

Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained

Less intensive works best for agricultural soil

Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation

Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership

New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025

Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age

Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker

Chips off the old block

Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia

Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry

Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19

Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity

State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections

Young adults drive historic decline in smoking

NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research

Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development

This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack

FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology

In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity

Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects

A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions

[Press-News.org] Why we should vaccinate boys against HPV as well as girls
Personal view: Vaccinate boys as well as girls against HPV, it works and it may be cost effective