cervical cancer vaccination

[mellowtigger]

I'm disappointed that I have only 1 female on my Friends list and none who have friended me.  (I think.)  I disapprove of that status.  I do, however, have several science geeks listening, so hopefully someone can provide a thorough answer to this question.

I've been seeing commercials on television recently about vaccinations for women to provide them some immunity against cervical cancer.  Why isn't this vaccine being marketed at all humans?  I assume that women are getting infected by men, so why not immunize their disease vector as well?

At first glance, it seems like immunizing against the flu but only for people whose last names begin with the letters A-L.  What gives?

Comments

[furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com]

My understanding is that while both men and women get infected with HPV - it's quite rare for men to actually experience any problems from it, while it induces cervical cancer in women. I don't know how expensive the vaccine is to produce or what the capacity is, but I would imagine that they're going after the people who are most likely to suffer the worst consequences first.

There's also the "controversy" from right-wing-nuts about a vaccine for a "sexually transmitted disease" - at least in women, there's the argument that it can lead to a deadly illness - there isn't generally that argument for men.