GOSHEN – Parents should have their daughters and sons starting at ages 11 to 12 vaccinated against the HPV virus, Orange County Health Commissioner Dr. Eli Avila said Tuesday.
His recommendation comes as the county kicks off National Immunization Awareness Month in August.
Three doses are recommended to prevent the virus before children become sexually active, Dr. Avila said.
“The Papilloma virus has been now found to be part of sometimes throat cancer, certainly genital cancer, in the oral pharynx; it is areas that folks were not expecting,” Avila said. “The technology is there now to test the tumors when you are having a biopsy of a cancer or suspicious lesion and they are finding virus particles or clues that a virus was very much involved in the genesis of that cancer.”
Vaccination rates for males in Orange County is 36 percent and 44 percent
for females while completion of the three-shot procedure is 16 percent
for boys and 26 percent for girls. The Healthy People 2020 goal for HPV
vaccination rates is 80 percent.
Little black dresses benefit Community Cares
May 14, 2024
