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.
Incidence of oral cancer virus among men is higher than it is for women.
“This study of oral HPV infection is the critical first step toward developing potential oropharyngeal cancer prevention strategies,” Gillison said. “This is clearly important, because HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer is poised to overtake cervical cancer as the leading type of HPV-caused cancers in the U.S.” More studies are needed to know whether the HPV vaccine effectively prevents oral HPV infections, the researchers said. Currently, the vaccine is recommended to prevent cervical cancer, anal cancer and genital warts.
The take away is to get early screening and to use protection when engaging in any kind of sexual activity.
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.
HPV is extremely common—75 percent of all women will eventually come in contact with this virus. But the good news is that most of those cases will clear up by themselves in as little as two years. Plus, there’s the additional protection of vaccination.
Nearly 100 percent of cervical cancers are caused by high-risk HPV, says Mark Einstein, M.D., director of clinical research at Montefiore Medical Center and Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. If left untreated, cervical cancer may require chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or a full hysterectomy, and may even result in infertility or death.
The vaccine Gardasil protects against four of the most common strains of HPV, 16 and 18 (which can cause cervical cancer) and 6 and 11 (which cause genital warts).
Another vaccine, Cervarix, has also been approved by the FDA and is highly effective in treating strains 16 and 18. The National Cancer Institute reports that there is evidence that Cervarix may also protect against other types of HPV that cause cancer.
The HPV Vaccine can be beneficial, however, a government mandate may not be popular.
Do we want government officials dictating medical policy?
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