Slog - Comments on A Little Bad News for the Ladies

Comment by Jerod

Jerod — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:07:47 -0800

Eh, whatever. You gotta go down sometime (pun intended), might as well do it in style.

Comment by Cat in Chicago

Cat in Chicago — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:24:55 -0800

Are the lesbos worried?

Comment by Jerod

Jerod — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:26:15 -0800

Also- Somebody should do a post about the shooting at Lane Bryant so I can make a tasteless and totally fat-phobic comment.

Comment by Jerod

Jerod — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:26:57 -0800

or not.

Comment by Greg

Greg — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:36:14 -0800

Yeah. I've been thinking about that. Why would they develop this vaccine against HPV and then only give it to half the population? What kind of sense does that make from an epidemiological standpoint?

Comment by konstantConsumer

konstantConsumer — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:40:25 -0800

how about from going down on guys? if you go down on a guy who has HPV, what is the risk?

Comment by GregS

GregS — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:42:52 -0800

It's always bothered me that they call it a "vaccine for cervical cancer." It doesn't eliminate cervical cancer, it only eliminates one possible cause of it. I've also thought it's silly that boys wouldn't get the HPV vaccine either. However, I know it's the "morally outraged" that are the problem... the ones who think if you don't tell teenagers about sex, they'll somehow magically never have sex. I'm sure it makes them feel better to think it's a cancer vaccine rather than what it really is, an STD vaccine.

Comment by murmurmur

murmurmur — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:47:03 -0800

The last part of that article reads..

"Indeed, it's not clear that the vaccine even prevents the HPV infection in males, let alone cancer or any other illness, said Debbie Saslow of the American Cancer Society."

Comment by brandon

brandon — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:57:44 -0800

there's no reason why it shouldn't protect men from HPV infection; they just haven't finished testing it yet. it was validated in women first because HPV causes cancer at much higher rates in women than men, which made it much easier and cheaper. the goal is to give it to everyone eventually.

Comment by brandon h

brandon h — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 17:03:29 -0800

They should have been doing this from the beginning because of anal cancer. The drug companies and media never stopped to consider how gay men are affected by HPV or that some of the teens out there today just might, dare I say it, be gay and should be protected beforehand. No No, all teenage boys love pussy and it's just a chick disease, so as long as its a pussy, let the boys fuck their brains out.

But now that the straight boys dicks and mouthes are on the line, its suddenly important that the boys get the shot.

Fucking Jesus Christ Goddamn it!

Comment by Andy Niable, Expert Deepthroater

Andy Niable, Expert Deepthroater — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 17:17:11 -0800

(Gulp)

Comment by Kent Cudgel

Kent Cudgel — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 18:37:46 -0800

Who wants their nickname changed to The Catfish, right?

Comment by chris

chris — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 18:55:50 -0800

HPV is serious. Everybody jokes about it but it's not funny. Same with herpes. Grow up people.

Comment by Wes

Wes — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 19:09:24 -0800

Would gay men need to worry about this? Not like we're going down on ladies, but it seems to be as contagious as the flu...

If so, do we get the shot from a general doctor?

Comment by Biologist in the Hinterlands

Biologist in the Hinterlands — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 20:00:58 -0800

HPV's are very slow-growing viruses; it takes years or decades for an infection to turn into cancer. There are 100 of them that cause warts, but only a few additionally cause cancer. The reasons that it's not approved for boys yet are:

1) It's very expensive to do the tests; you've got to keep track of people tested with it for a decade or more.

2) Many many more women get cervical cancer than anybody gets viral-caused oral cancer, or at least that was true in the late '90's.

3) So they tested it only on girls first; hence we don't know for sure that it will work on boys (though the odds are good). But the FDA almost ALWAYS errs on the side of caution to prevent another thalidomide disaster.

4) The vaccine is very expensive to make, and therefore expensive to get - over $400, and many forms of insurance don't cover it. And it takes 3 injections over 3 months. That's a lot to ask of parents, especially those at lower incomes, even though it's the right thing to do.

We may not get universal health care, no matter who gets elected, but everyone should demand universal government-paid vaccination. Every person vaccinated helps keep you from getting that disease. This should be considered a matter of national defense (one reason why a lot of vaccine research is actually funded by the defense department).

Comment by ecce homo

ecce homo — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 20:12:00 -0800

Making men into women...awesome.

You guys gonna starting sitting down to take a piss too?

Comment by SpookyCat

SpookyCat — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 20:41:34 -0800

It makes logical sense that HPV for guys would prevent these anal and throat cancers; a virus that causes cancer of a mucosal tissue probably doesn't care what gender the infected person is. So I'd guess that gay guys are just as likely to get infected from going down on infected men as straight guys are from going down on infected women. Plus, once it becomes a common oral infection, then everyone will be getting it from kissing and all bets are off.

I think the boys will be getting the vaccine in the not-so-distant future; and that is a good thing. Even if they don't, my little girl is getting it when she's old enough. She's a strong-minded person and won't be pressured into anything she doesn't want to do just because one disease has been counteracted. The sexually repressed should realize that most girls who aren't put off by the much larger and more immediate risk of pregnancy, certainly won't be put off by the chance of cervical cancer in forty years. Heck, we can't get kids not to smoke or tan, and the cancers associated with those habits are much more likely than cervical cancer.

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 21:00:30 -0800

I sit down to pee more often than not. Nice to take a load off now and again. Got a problem with that, ecco?

Comment by ecce homo

ecce homo — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 21:28:31 -0800

IT's ECCE!!!

Get it right FFART!!!

Comment by M

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 22:05:19 -0800

umm.... can you guys keep it down? i don't want my boyfriend to hear about this... ever.

Comment by James Dobson

James Dobson — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 22:48:59 -0800

G-d finds the woman-hole to be icky and un-republican. G-d created the valiant penis as a mighty weapon against its shamefulness. Licking or even gazing upon the woman-hole is an abomination.

Comment by fatguy

fatguy — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 23:04:57 -0800

Jerod -

I'm still waiting for Dan to post about how the fatties were an easy target, being large and slow, and therefore deserved to get shot.

Comment by Andy Niable

Andy Niable — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 23:13:35 -0800

God forbid we devote a single tax dollar to research or promotion of a vaccine that could help a homosexual... no, i mean literally, they think God forbids... oh, it just makes me tired.

Young queers, go get the shot. Older queers--it's probably too late.

Comment by catnextdoor in albuquerque

catnextdoor in albuquerque — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 00:43:25 -0800

oh damn. so thats why....uh, nevermind....

Comment by bob

bob — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 01:07:37 -0800

@ 22

YEAH! YOUR CUTTING REMARK WILL MAKE DAN THINK TWICE ABOUT HIS NARROW-MINDED ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE NATURALLY PLUMP.

Comment by angelfish

angelfish — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:51:44 -0800

wow, I guess this means she'd be a bad president. There goes my vote!

Comment by Sex Kills

Sex Kills — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 21:27:43 -0800

Do dental dams really exist? And if so, where are they sold?

Comment by Greg

Greg — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 09:20:39 -0800

@27: Go to Safeway. It's called Saran Wrap.

Comment by Eh, whatever

Eh, whatever — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 15:03:27 -0800

It's not like losing what little head we already get (from men) is going to be that big a deal; most men are so inept at it already that it's not exactly world-shaking.

(Here's a hint, fellas - EAT is just an expression. Slow the fuck down and stop gnawing.)

Comment by that guy

that guy — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:47:42 -0800

>21

who the hell is G-d?