Why Does Texas Let Sexual Taboos Get in the Way of Preventing Cancer?

It sounds straightforward enough: A vaccine given to adolescents and young teens that will prevent cancer in adulthood.Yet Texans aren't getting it — figuratively or literally.Texas ranks near the bottom in vaccination rates for the cancer-causing human-papillomavirus, or HPV. Dallas County's 24 percent rate is among the worst in the entire nation.Pediatricians and parents can do something to change those depressingly low numbers. But first, here's more detail about why the shot, which debuted a decade ago, is important.The HPV vaccine protects against the most common sexually transmitted infection, a virus that 90 percent of men and 85 percent of women in the U.S. contract in their lifetimes. HPV usually isn't serious and resolves itself without symptoms.  Continue reading...