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The Texas A&M Women's Health Center has provided the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine since September 2006. The vaccine can prevent the most common types of HPV that cause cervical cancer in women.
The director of the Women's Clinic at the Beutel Health Center on campus, Martha Dannenbaum, said that most people don't realize they can get HPV by simply making skin to skin contact.
"When a guy tells a girl that he has been tested for everything and that he is clean, he may not be," Dannenbaum said. "There is currently no test for HPV in men."
Genital human papillomavirus is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the United States.
About 20 million people in the U.S. are infected, and about 6.2 million more are infected each year.
There are about 40 types of genital HPV. Some can cause cervical cancer and others can cause various types of cancer in both men and women.
"In many cases, especially for people under 30 years of age, they will show no symptoms and the infection will clear on its own within six months," Dannenbaum said.
The HPV vaccine protects against four major types of HPV, including two types that cause about 70 percent of cervical cancer and two types that cause about 90 percent of genital warts.
"Now, genital warts won't kill you," Dannenbaum said, "but they are unpleasant to have."
Every year in the U.S. about 10,000 women get cervical cancer and 3,700 die from it.
Denise Chapman, a lecturer in the Department of Health and Kinesiology, said some strains of HPV will cause visible warts but usually the strains that cause cervical cancer do not have visible warts.
"If the cancer is caught early, small parts of the cervix can be removed," Chapman said. "If it continues on, more of the cervix will need to be removed, making it difficult or impossible to carry a child."
Director of the Student Health Center Linda Lekawski said, A&M was one of the first of the Big 12 schools to begin offering the vaccine when it came out last year.
"Certain insurance companies may cover some or all of the cost," Lekawski said. "We don't markup our vaccine prices and I've heard that we are very competitively priced."
The HPV vaccine is given in a three-dose series over a six-month period. It costs $150 per shot at A&M. It can cost up to $300 per shot at other health clinics.
Lekawski said there has been a large number of women at A&M who have gotten the vaccine since the Health Center started offering it.
"I recommend that everyone gets the information about the HPV vaccine and considers it," Lekawski said.
Brochures are available at the Women's Clinic, which is on the second floor of Beutel.
The HPV vaccine is normally recommended for girls 11 to 17 years of age and for women 18 to 26 years of age if they did not receive it when they were younger.
Chapman said she believes that all girls should get the vaccine.
"My 12-year-old niece just got it and she's still not interested in boys. It doesn't have to do with encouraging a girl to have sex, it has to do with preventing a cancer and protecting your health," Chapman said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the HPV vaccine does not have serious side effects. Though, pain at the injection site and dizziness can occur shortly after the injection is given, side effects usually do not last long and go away on their own.
Chapman said the best prevention and only way to be positive you will not get HPV is to not have sex.
"When that no longer becomes an option it's extremely important that both men and women protect themselves," Chapman said.
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