The HPV vaccine is routinely being given to girls locally. But it’s a different story when it comes to boys getting the shot.

Gardasil, one of two HPV vaccines on the market, was approved for boys late last year. The vaccine offers them protection from genital warts caused by the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus. It also can prevent boys from developing certain rare cancers.

But the vaccine does not hold the same lifesaving potential for boys as it does for girls. HPV causes nearly all cases of cervical cancer, which kills about 4,000 women annually in the United States.

Add in the fact that some insurance companies won’t pay for boys to receive the relatively pricey vaccine, and it’s easy to see why it hasn’t become an automatic part of boys’ shot schedule, said Dr. Leighton Carl, a family medicine physician affiliated with Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center.

“It’s a different sell, I think, both for the kids and the parents,” Carl said.

Authorities such as the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Academy of Pediatrics say Gardasil is effective at preventing genital warts in boys, but they have not added it to the list of recommended vaccines for them.

Experts think it makes more sense to focus vaccination efforts on increasing the number of girls who get the shot, since they stand to benefit the most.

Part of the consideration is cost. The vaccination series consists of three doses that have a total price tag of nearly $400.

Because the vaccine has not been recommended for boys, insurance companies may not cover the cost of the vaccination for them.

State vaccine program

However, Gardasil is available to boys through the Texas Vaccines for Children Program, which provides free inoculations to low-income and uninsured children.

Locally, many adolescent boys and their parents are deciding to skip the vaccine, officials said.

At Family Health Center, for instance, less than 10 percent of eligible boys have gotten the shot, medical director Dr. Tim Barker said. Most of them qualify for the state vaccine program.

But the boys and their parents are opting against the shot because they don’t feel the boys are at risk of getting HPV, he said.

Doctors at the center frequently hear the same thing from girls and their parents, Barker said. But more than half of eligible girls end up getting the vaccine, he said.

One of the things physicians stress with girls is that even if they are abstinent until marriage, the man they marry may not have been, Barker said.

“We’re protecting these young ladies for years and years down the road,” he said.

Dr. Van Wehmeyer, a family medicine physician at Scott & White, said he emphasizes the same thing to girls and their parents.

He has had two cases in which women died from cervical cancer even though their only sexual partners were their husbands.

About 75 percent of his female patients end up getting the vaccine, he said.

Hard to convince males

When it comes to boys, though, the case for the vaccine is harder to make, Wehmeyer said.

As the father of two young sons and one daughter, he said he will likely have all of them vaccinated against HPV. But he acknowledged being on the fence some when it comes to the boys getting the shot.

So far, Wehmeyer said, no parents have asked about their son getting the vaccine. But he plans to start talking to parents about it more, he said.

Carl, the Hillcrest doctor, also hasn’t given the vaccine to any male patients. He said he has seen less resistance to the vaccine from girls’ parents in recent years. More girls than not get the shot, he said.

The other HPV vaccine on the market, Cervarix, has not been approved for boys. That’s because it does not prevent genital warts. It only offers protection from cervical cancer.

cculp@wacotrib.com

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