Answering Parents’ Questions: My child isn’t sexually active. Why would they need HPV vaccination?

[Music] hi so it looks like Molly is ready for her vaccines today are you ready do you have any questions for me yeah I have a question isn't HPV a sexually transmitted disease why does Molly need to get vaccinated against that she's a good girl HPV is actually a very common infection that can turn into cancer it's so common that almost everyone who is not vaccinated will get infected with HPV at some point during their lives regardless of how many sexual partners they may have had it only takes one partner to get exposed and exposure can occur with any kind of sexual contact even without sexual intercourse and while Molly may wait until marriage we can't predict if her future partner will also wait or get their vaccine we can protect Molly now by lowering her risk for cancer in the future oh I didn't realize it was so common so you recommend the HPV vaccine for all the kids who are seen here yes honestly it's important for everyone to get vaccinated it's so important that it's on the routine childhood immunization schedule for everyone around Molly's age and yes we recommend both boys and girls get vaccinated when I have the opportunity to get my kids vaccinated when they they are Molly's age I certainly will get them vaccinated too so how do you know that when she's a teenager she's not going to think she has a free P to have sex not a single scientific study has shown that HPV vaccination has any effect on sexual behaviors in fact an open conversation about HPV vaccine and other ways to prevent cancer like not smoking are ways you already talk with your child about staying healthy [Music]