this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2026
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My spouse just went through cervical cancer.
The vaccine that prevents it is the HPV vaccine.
However, it needs to be administered before the age of 14 for it to be effective for the rest of your life.
Apparently, 75% of the population has an HPV.
Sooooo.... yeah.
It can be administered at anytime. It's usually given at 14 because most people aren't sexually active before then.
If you are older, it can still help. If you are a man without contact with HPV, you could become immune.
I could be wrong, but I got it at 30 even after having partners.
The HPV virus is also slowely being implicated in causing some throat, neck, and tonsillar cancers in men. The vaccine in men helps prevent those too. It is argued that everyone should get it, and the younger the better (younger as in around 14, not 20's or 30's).
Yeah. I got it because it was free for me and I was pretty confident I didn't have it. Seemed like a no downside thing.
Better at 14, but you can still do it later
It wasn't required for millennial men to get the vaccine. It's only recently they started pushing for everyone to get it.
There was also a lot of scare-mongering when it was introduced. My parents' church said that HPV was punishment from god for casual sex, and the vaccine would guarantee I'd go to hell, so they didn't let me get it.
I'm sorry your parents failed you there.