Should Actors Who Kiss Get Vaccinated?

I know it's not a nice subject, but kissing, often French-kissing, is part of the job for some actors. This article says HPV infection can be obtained in this way.

Looks like a job-related health risk. How do actors protect themselves from this? Over time in a show with cast replacements, understudies, one actor may be kissing several people...

Should AEA seek a ban of French-kissing onstage for its members? Do we really need French kissing on stage?

Should actors who French kiss get the vaccine?

"French" kissing ups risk of oral HPV infection

Updated On: 5/13/09 at 04:11 PM

Let's not dis Christians.

I'm wondering about avoidable health risks for actors and awareness of the risks.

Plus that vaccine costs hundreds of dollars and I believe it has to be administered over time in more than one dose.

Maybe the risk of that is one stress actors shouldn't have to have.

Why should they have to French kiss? Is it really necessary?

I believe that anyone can buy the vaccine if your doctor is willing to give it to you.

It is recommended for young women, but they are not the only ones who could benefit. Any person who doesn't have it should benefit from the vaccine.

The FDA? Puh-lease. Being aware of what they don't do for oversight and don't require of drug companies and what little they require in statistics to admit new drugs, the FDA is not the great big helpful protective agency that you may wishfully believe it to be. Forget it. Just forget the FDA.

Better to look at British or European standards for this vaccine.

Eris, it is my understanding that once a drug is approved by the FDA doctors can prescribe it for other uses also to see if it works. Surprised? Not too many people are aware of that.

Take at this article, more than two years old, in the BBC News where they are considering giving the vaccine also to boys. It also talks about gay men paying for the jabs.

"Doctors say people outside of these age groups have been contacting them to get the vaccine. Many private clinics are offering it to gay men for about £450. "
HPV Q & A

I think this is a good point. They shouldn't have to french kiss. Not necessary.

The article may be about events in another nation, but nomdeplume's assertation about the FDA's approval of a drug clearly makes it possible for it to be administered here in the USA to men; the only issue is finding a doctor who will do it.


Edit: Haha, we posted that at the same time! Out of curiosity, do you know of a source proving what you said about the FDA? I'm not questioning you, but just want to see one...

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Updated On: 5/13/09 at 04:55 PM

Many diseases are spread through saliva. Should actors receive meningitis shots? That can be far more deadly than HPV. What about "the kissing disease"? How many Broadway actors have been out with mono lately?

Why stop at kissing? Most infections are spread through direct contact, like the flu and the common cold. I say we ban any and all touching onstage, just in case. Masks and rubber gloves will be required when those death-wisher playwrights refuse to have their shows staged with all the actors standing 6 feet apart at all times.

Then again, there's always airborne diseases. The only solution is to have each actor perform in a hermetically-sealed bubble. Then they'll finally be safe.

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turns out you are right... to a degree.

there IS a risk to young men of getting various anal carcinomas from HPV. however, this event, compared to women getting cervical cancer, is rare (by extension, getting anal carcinoma for oropharyngeal HPV seems like it would be an even rarer event). this is part of the reason why the vaccine is not approved for men. the disease in question must be common enough in order to enroll enough patients to study your question (i.e., does the vaccine reduce the rate of anal squamous cell carcinoma in young men?). the issue of whether to get an anal PAP smear in sexually active men who have sex with men is not entirely clear yet, so how could the matter of whether to get the vaccine?

consider yourself the hypothetical actor. what do you hope to prevent by getting the vaccine? you could get HPV infection, but what if it had no sequelae? you'd be dropping the money for nothing. as it turns out, young children DO get HPV-related cancers of the oropharynx, but that usually comes from HPV from their MOTHER (when they passed through the birth canal they swallow all that amniotic fluid and stuff, where the virus has been shed).

this is not to say, in time, whether the vaccine might help, it's just that no one knows that it would right now, and the chances that it would seem remote, especially if you are male. it seems you are most concerned about actors getting some kind of oropharyngeal cancer from HPV. most people who get an oropharyngeal cancer abuse tobacco or alochol. so again, what do you hope to achieve?

Updated On: 5/13/09 at 05:20 PM

This thread just keeps getting dumber and dumber.

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you must remember this
a kiss is just a kiss
a sigh is just a sigh
but viruses will not comply
and germs go by


[sorry, couldn't resist]

"I think this is a good point. They shouldn't have to french kiss. Not necessary."
...and...I agree! They can pretend. After all, they are actors. But, in this day and age...safer to abstain!