Dentists Warning for Tinder generation! Dating apps such as Tinder leading to a steep rise in cancer-causing sexually-transmitted infections! Due to rising oral sex!
HPV and cancer
HPV is human papillomavirus and it has been increasingly incriminated in the causation of cancers. 1 in 20 cancers is said to be caused by this virus.
There are more than 200 variants of the HPV virus and out of this 9 are definitely said to cause and lead to cancer. Whereas there are another 6 who fall into the category of highly suspicious cancer-causing viruses.
HPV is known to cause cancers at various sites of the body. These sites are usually near the natural orifices or openings. These include cervical, vulval, and vaginal cancers in females, and penile, anal, oral, throat, head, neck, and skin cancers.
Currently, in the UK, HPV vaccination is given to 12-13 aged females to protect them from cervical cancer under NHS Vaccination Program. But there is the option of refusing to take the vaccination.
And this vaccination is not recommended for boys. These ‘boys’ who come in contact with the ‘unvaccinated females’ run the risk of acquiring the HPV infection.
If their body defense fails to clear this infection from their body, they could land with cancer in their later life.
Should boys be offered the HPV vaccination as well?
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) met in July 2017 to decide whether HPV vaccination should be extended to include males. But this proposal was rejected at the JCVI meeting.
Mary Ramsay, Head of Public Health Immunization, England, said:
“Evidence from around the world suggests that the risk of HPV infection in males is dramatically reduced by achieving high uptake of the HPV vaccine among girls. While there are some additional benefits to vaccinating both males and females, the current models indicate that extending the programme to boys in the UK, where the uptake in girls is consistently high, would not represent a good use of NHS resources.”
If they had agreed to vaccinate boys as well it would have led to an increase in the cost of around £ 20 million per year for the NHS. But not vaccinating the boys could expose 400000 boys at risk of this potentially cancer-causing virus.
You may also like to read What would you do if you come to know that your Tinder date is engaged? This is what Kimberly Anne did!
British Dental Association disagrees and gives a warning!
BDA and dentists totally disagree with this decision of the JCVI. Dentists have been seeing increasing cases of sexually-transmitted infections and oral cancers linked to it in the last few years.
They feel that dating apps such as TINDER have led to more sexual contact and oral sex and hence the rise in these infections and cancer.
BDA feels that the JCVI has relied on old flawed data and has withheld some vital information from the general public possibly due to the financial load of the vaccination on an already-burdened NHS.
BDA said:
“Data used to model sexual behaviour are out of date, and factors such as the recent introduction of dating apps may have led to significant changes in behaviour over the last few years, which have not been taken into account.”
They further added:
“Whether by accident or by design they have understated cancer risk, and completely ignored the sexual habits of the Tinder Generation. That choice will cost lives. The JCVI is failing in its duty as public body to treat all our children equally. They should not be leaving parents to reach into their own pockets to protect their sons.”
The dentists feel that a ‘gender-neutral’ vaccination program is needed and this also holds true for HPV vaccination.