Important Information About HPV Vaccines

More than 100 forms of human papilloma virus (HPV) are known to exist. Over 30 types of HPV are transmitted through sexual contact. At the very least 19 types of HPV cause cervical cancer in women and also cause cancer of the vagina, vulva, penis, anus and certain types of throat cancer.

Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a vaccine called Gardasil, made by Merck & Co., for the prevention of infection by four types of HPV. Gardasil prevents infection by two cancer-causing HPV types (16 and 18 - responsible for 70% of cervical cancer in the United States) and two HPV types that cause genital warts (6 and 11 - responsible for approximately 90% of the HPV-induced genital warts in the United States).

A competitor of Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, includes a vaccine under review by the FDA they hope to possess approved in the near future. This vaccine, called Cervarix, prevents infection with HPV types 16 and 18.

The FDA approved Gardisil for use within girls and women between the ages of 9 and 25 who've not ever been confronted with HPV acne treatment singapore. The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends vaccination of girls at the ages of 11 or 12.

Both Gardisil and Cervarix are almost 100% effective against the virus types they contain, but are most likely ineffective against all of the strains they do not contain. The length of time the protective effectation of either HPV vaccine lasts after inoculation is unknown, but many experts believe resistance to infection will last at least four years.

Even though the current HPV vaccine only protects against a small amount of HPV types, in the U.S. it's wise for young women and girls to be vaccinated since the risk of injury and death from HPV infection is so high. The vaccine has very few negative effects, and medical experts believe the risk of vaccination is incredibly low when compared with the benefit.

While some religious leaders are against vaccination because they are worried that it will encourage sexual promiscuity, this "virginity or death" stance has no legitimate devote a civilized society. On the other hand, it makes little sense for politicians to force girls to be vaccinated because the commercial vaccine, while very profitable to its manufacturer, is only the beginning of the solution to worldwide HPV prevention.

The newest HPV vaccines are clearly important medical progress in controlling life-threatening viral infections, but problems remain. Only if females are vaccinated, the HPV reservoir in males is going to be unaffected and the threat to the human population in general is unlikely to be reduced. With HPV infections so high worldwide, it is likely that other HPV strains not included in the commercial vaccines increase in frequency as time passes, leaving even vaccinated people susceptible.

From the standpoint of worldwide virus control, the high cost of the vaccine causes it to be too costly for use in developing countries. Ongoing research should increase the breadth of effectiveness of HPV vaccines to incorporate protection against essentially all virus strains. Additionally, as time goes by there may be therapeutic vaccines to take care of people already infected with HPV. For the time being, keep informed, remain skeptical of commercial advertising and unproved claims, but take advantage of this valuable advance in preventative medicine.