HPV Vaccine For Older Women Delayed

Comment First

US News reported some bad news for older women who want the HPV vaccine. Deborah Kotz points out that it’s arbitrary that once you celebrate your 27th birthday, it’s no longer approved. I suppose you have to have some age though.

I realize some of you might not know much about HPV – I know I didn’t until it affected the life of someone close to me – so I wrote up this little primer:

HPV Information

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 20 million Americans are infected with the Human Papillomavirus, or HPV, making it the most common sexually transmitted infection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites that over 50% of sexually active adults will contract HPV at some point in their lives. This is a particularly startling fact since different types of the virus can cause genital warts, cervical cancer, and a variety of other cancers.

Most people who have HPV are unaware of the fact that they are carrying the STI. This is because most will not develop any symptoms, or develop any adverse health conditions. Even years without having sex, it is still possible to have HPV and to pass it on to a partner.

HPV can be of extra concern to pregnant women or those who may become pregnant. In very rare cases, HPV can be passed to the child during natural birth, and appears in the child in the form of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, or RRP. RRP manifests itself in the form of warts in the throat or larynx. This is a condition only occurring in about 2,000 newborns per year, but is another reason why women who are or may become pregnant should be screened for the virus.

For most people, a healthy body and immune system will clear the virus, and no other conditions will develop. Some women experience multiple infections and slow changes to the cervix that ultimately lead to cancer. Cancer development as a result of HPV in men is extremely rare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that around 11,000 women develop cervical cancer annually, and around 3,700 of those cases become fatal.

There is an HPV test available today for women. Testing is usually only advised for women over 30, when it is most likely to contract cervical cancer, or in the event of an abnormal pap smear. The test detects high-risk types of HPV which are responsible for the development of cancer.

HPV Vaccine Information

The vaccine is recommended for young women, ages 11-12, who have not yet become sexually active. This is because the vaccine is most effective in women who have not yet contracted any form of HPV, and many adults contract the virus within their first year of sexual activity. The vaccine does not immunize against all forms of the virus. It does, however, protect against the strains that are responsible for causing 70% of cervical cancer cases and 90% of genital warts cases. In preventing for these strains that it covers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cite a nearly 100% effective rate.

Photo Credit: alicia.anne

This post deals with:

centers for disease control and prevention, cervical cancer, disease control and prevention, genital warts, hpv vaccine, human papillomavirus, recurrent respiratory papillomatosis

... and focuses on:

Medical Thoughts

Posted by Lazy Man on June 30, 2008 in Medical Thoughts.

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