HPV Vaccine Shows Great Promise

Written by OJ Fagbire

Thursday, 10 May 2007

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Recent clinical trials of nearly 18 000 participants showed that the new HPV vaccine boast nearly 100% effectiveness in stopping the precancerous cervical lesions.

The vaccine works by preventing infection from four strains of HPOV, which is the leading cause of cervical cancer worldwide. New data has also shown the vaccine (Gardasil), is much more effective when given to women before they become sexually active. Current guidelines as a result recommend that girls receive the vaccination at the age of 11 or 12.

Doctor's groups have supported calls to mandate the vaccination, but the drug has faced stiff opposition from conservative groups that say the vaccine encourages promiscuity.
Doctor's say that there are a lot of good reasons to give the vaccine to girls at a young age. Foremost, is that any vaccine works better before you actually have the sexually transmitted disease. Additionally, young girls have strong immune systems and are already receiving shots for other infections.

The virus can also cause throat cancer, after being transmitted to the throat through oral sex. They say that HPV is probably the leading cause of the throat malignancies that affect 11 000 Americans annually.

HPV kills an estimates 240 000 woman each year, and the CDC estimates that more than 20 million US men and woman carry the virus.

The vaccine doesn't protect you from all fifteen strains of the virus, but does safeguard you from the four strains that are thought to cause 70% of all cervical cancers.
The vaccine does not perform as well with woman who had already been exposed to HPV. The result among these people dropped from nearly 100% effectiveness down to only 44%, which is a similar rate to non vaccinated people.

Some parents have opposed the mandated immunization, expressing concerns over the drug's safety; but researchers point out that clinical trials have shown almost no evidence of side-effects to counter the strong prophylactic effect of the drug. The 2 million doses of the drug that have now been given in the US without serious reaction should also alleviate parent's concerns.

Doctors say that it is too early to say whether a vaccine could also protect against HPV caused throat cancer, but that research is now underway to investigate.

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