The journal of Pediatrics has conducted a study which allays fears that being inoculated with the HPV vaccine would encourage sexual promiscuity among teenagers.

The human papilloma virus can lead to cervical cancer and the vaccine helps protect against transmission of the virus.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection, with about 50% of sexually active men and women contracting it at some point during their lives. Early sexual behaviors and multiple sexual partners are risk factors for infection, but other studies have hinted that the vaccine may not encourage sexual activity; in one review of 1,398 girls ages 11 to 12, there was no indication that that girls who received the vaccine planned to engage in more sexual activity. These studies, however, were largely based on self-reported data. The current study is one of the first to evaluate sexual activity after vaccination among this age group based on clinical data.

The signs of gynecological cancer can be elusive to most women.

The most common symptoms; fatigue, bloating and back pain, can be mistaken as benign annoyances which happen from time to time.

So, when do you need to be concerned that there may be something more serious which needs your attention?

There will be nearly 90,000 cases of gynecological cancers diagnosed in the U.S. in 2012, with more than half of those being cervical cancer, according to estimates from the National Cancer Institute. About 30,000 women will die of these five cancers this year; the deadliest of the five is ovarian cancer, which will cause about half of these deaths.

Knowing what is normal for you is the best way help your doctor monitor changes and what those changes may mean for your health.

A few treatable infections lead to over 2 million cancers a year.

Human papillomavirus, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and the stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori are the leading infections which can cause cancer as well as HIV.

Merck’s Gardasil vaccine is used to prevent the human papillomavirus ,which is responsible for cervical and some head and neck cancers, is available for both men and women.

The expectation is that eliminating the virus will help to end the cancers.

In terms of deaths, the study authors estimated that 1.5 million of the 7.5 million cancer deaths that occurred worldwide in 2008 – or about one in five – were related to infectious diseases.

How do researchers know if a cancer is caused by an infectious disease? Viruses such as HPV and Hepatitis B and C actually invade a person’s DNA and leave their signature in the genetic sequence. Helicobacter pylori does not, but the bacterium can be found in gastric tumors.

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New guidelines have been established for women 21-65 regarding PAP smears.

Tests need to be taken once every 3 years and only once in 5 years for those who also get tested for HPV.

Good news for women as these tests are highly effective in diagnosis and prevention.

A new study recommends HPV testing for all women over 30 years.

The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has been shown to be present in women who later develop certain types of cervical cancer.

Detecting the virus leads to closer screening for cervical cancer.

Results of a five-year study involving 45,000 women provided the strongest evidence yet in favor of using human papillomavirus (HPV) testing, Chris Meijer and colleagues from the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam reported in The Lancet Oncology.

The HPV test for cervical cancer seems to be a better predictor of pre-cancerous lesions than a pap test alone.

Under cervical cancer screening guidelines issued by the American Cancer Society in 2002 and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in 2003, women aged 30 or older should have both a Pap test, also known as a Pap smear, as well as an HPV test, also called an HPV co-test. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection, and certain strains of the virus can cause cervical cancer.

Under current guidelines, if the results of both tests are normal, a woman can wait three years for her next Pap test, which looks for signs of cancer in cells from a woman’s cervix.

For this slow growing cancer, early detection is key.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology meets in Chicago and will review a new study which suggests that 3 year intervals are safe for Cervical Cancer Screening Tests.

Most women aged 30 and older with normal Pap and human paillomavirus (HPV) test results can safely wait three years until their next set of cervical cancer screening tests, according to a new study.

Such co-testing is currently recommended by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The guidelines note that women with certain risk factors for cervical cancer may need more frequent testing.