“Correct me if I’m wrong, but, isn’t cervical cancer virtually unknown among girls and women who aren’t sexually active, and/or are in mutually monogamous relationships?”
Alas, no. Certainly a lower incidence, but there are mutiple ways to get this. It’s basically a wart, and spreads like warts.
Mutually monogamous relationship in which neither has ever had sex with another. I don’t know if anybody can count on that or ever could.
Vaccines all have risk/benefit ratios. To expect absolutely no risk is unrealistic. And to expect that children will be monogamous, marry virgins and never stray,,we know that is not something to count on.
Cervical cancer is not necessarily easily treated. I know of two women who had yearly paps, were not promiscuous, but both were married. Both died very rapidly of a cervical CA that metastasized to lymph nodes before it was diagnosed. An unusually virulent HPV type.
Among college age women almost half have HPV already. If vaccination could prevent that, I say go for it. ANd I dont know why boys aren’t vaccinated,,were studies done on boys?
Sexual assault alone probably transmits HPV to girls,,it is not uncommon. We can say “not our daughters/we protect them/they protect themselves” but the real world doesn’t always pan out that way.