Bringing The World Home To You

© 2024 WUNC North Carolina Public Radio
120 Friday Center Dr
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
919.445.9150 | 800.962.9862
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Study: Vaccinating Boys Against HPV Could Prevent Cancer In Men and Women

A picture of a boy receiving a shot.
Kaiser Permanente

A mathematical model from Duke University mathematicians suggests more can be done to protect people from the human papilloma virus.  

 
HPV is associated with cervical cancer in women, but can also cause various cancers in men.  
 
Duke mathematician Marc Ryser says the study suggests focusing limited public health dollars on vaccinating the large number of boys who have not had the shots.
 
"The uptake in girls has stagnated and remains low, the uptake in boys, so the number of boys who get vaccinated is still very low, it’s about 14 percent."
 
Ryser says the 37 percent of girls have been vaccinated, leaving less room for improvement.  The CDC recommends all girls and boys get the shots between the ages of 11 and 12, before they become sexually active.
 

Eric Hodge hosts WUNC’s broadcast of Morning Edition, and files reports for the North Carolina news segments of the broadcast. He started at the station in 2004 doing fill-in work on weekends and All Things Considered.
Related Stories
More Stories