 |
|
|
HPV Vaccine Questions and Answers
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently licensed this vaccine for use in females, ages 9-26 years. The HPV vaccine is given through a series of three shots over a 6-month period. The second and third doses should be given 2 and 6 months (respectively) after the first dose. Does the Southern Nevada Health District offer the HPV vaccine? Yes. Visit the Immunizations webpage for clinic locations and hours. Who should get the HPV vaccine? The HPV vaccine is recommended for 11 to 12 year-old girls, and can be given to girls as young as 9. The vaccine is also recommended for 13-26 year-old females who have not yet received or completed the vaccine series. These recommendations have been proposed by the ACIP, a national group of experts that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on vaccine issues, and are now being considered by CDC. Why is the HPV vaccine recommended for such young girls? Ideally, females should get the vaccine before they are sexually active. This is because the vaccine is most effective in females who have not yet acquired any of the four HPV types covered by the vaccine. Females who have not been infected with any of those four HPV types will get the full benefits of the vaccine. Will sexually active females benefit from the vaccine? Females who are sexually active may also benefit from the vaccine. But they may get less benefit from the vaccine since they may have already acquired one or more HPV type(s) covered by the vaccine. Few young women are infected with all four of these HPV types. So they would still get protection from those types they have not acquired. Currently, there is no test available to tell if a female has had any or all of these four HPV types. Why is the HPV vaccine only recommended for females ages 9 to 26? The vaccine has been widely tested in 9 to 26 year-old females. But research on the vaccine’s safety and efficacy has only recently begun with women older than 26 years of age. The FDA will consider licensing the vaccine for these women once research shows that it is safe and effective for them. What about vaccinating boys? We do not yet know if the vaccine is effective in boys or men. It is possible that vaccinating males will have health benefits for them by preventing genital warts and rare cancers, such as penile and anal cancer. It is also possible that vaccinating boys/men will have indirect health benefits for females. Studies are now being done to find out if the vaccine works to prevent HPV infection and disease in males. When more information is available, this vaccine may be licensed and recommended for males as well. Should pregnant women get the vaccine? The vaccine is not recommended for pregnant women. There has been limited research looking at vaccine safety for pregnant women and their unborn babies. So far, studies suggest that the vaccine has not caused health problems during pregnancy, nor has it caused health problems for the infant-- but more research is still needed. For now, pregnant women should complete their pregnancy before getting the vaccine. If a woman finds out she is pregnant after she has started getting the vaccine series, she should complete her pregnancy before finishing the three-dose series. Effectiveness of the HPV Vaccine Studies have found the vaccine to be almost 100 percent effective in preventing diseases caused by the four HPV types covered by the vaccine– including precancers of the cervix, vulva and vagina, and genital warts. The vaccine has mainly been studied in young women who had not been exposed to any of the four HPV types in the vaccine. This vaccine does not treat existing HPV infections, genital warts, precancers or cancers. How long does vaccine protection last? Will a booster shot be needed? The length of vaccine protection (immunity) is usually not known when a vaccine is first introduced. So far, studies have followed women for five years and found that women are still protected. More research is being done to find out how long protection will last, and if a booster vaccine is needed years later. What does the vaccine not protect against? Because the vaccine does not protect against all types of HPV, it will not prevent all cases of cervical cancer or genital warts. About 30 percent of cervical cancers will not be prevented by the vaccine, so it will be important for women to continue getting regular Pap tests. Also, the vaccine does not prevent about 10 percent of genital warts—nor will it prevent other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). So it will still be important for sexually active adults to reduce exposure to HPV and other STIs. Will females be protected against HPV and related diseases, even if they don’t get all three doses? It is not yet known how much protection females would get from receiving only one or two doses of the vaccine. For this reason, it is very important that females get all three doses of the vaccine. Safety of the HPV Vaccine The FDA has licensed the HPV vaccine as safe and effective. This vaccine has been tested in over 11,000 females (ages 9-26 years) around the world. These studies have shown no serious side effects. The most common side effect is soreness at the injection site. CDC, working with the FDA, will continue to monitor the safety of the vaccine after it is in general use. Does this vaccine contain thimerosal or mercury? No. There is no thimerosal or mercury in the HPV vaccine. It is made up of proteins from the outer coat of the virus (HPV). There is no infectious material in this vaccine. Will the HPV vaccine be covered by insurance plans? While some insurance companies may cover the vaccine, others may not. Most large insurance plans usually cover the costs of recommended vaccines. However, there is often a short lag-time after a vaccine is recommended, before it is available and covered by health plans. What kind of government programs may be available to cover HPV vaccine? The Southern Nevada Health District participates in the Vaccines for Children (VFC) federal health program which covers the HPV vaccine. The VFC program provides free vaccines to children and teens under 19 years of age, who are uninsured, Medicaid-eligible, American Indian, Alaska Native. What Vaccinated Females Need to Know Will females who have been vaccinated still need cervical cancer screening? Yes. There are three reasons why women will still need regular cervical cancer screening. First, the vaccine will NOT protect against all types of HPV that cause cervical cancer, so vaccinated women will still be at risk for some cancers. Second, some women may not get all required doses of the vaccine (or they may not get them at the right times), so they may not get the vaccine’s full benefits. Third, women may not get the full benefit of the vaccine if they receive it after they’ve already acquired one of the four HPV types. Should females be screened before getting vaccinated? No. Females do not need to get an HPV test or Pap test to find out if they should get the vaccine. An HPV test or a Pap test can tell that a woman may have HPV, but these tests cannot tell the specific HPV type(s) that a woman has. Even females with one HPV type could get protection from the other vaccine HPV types they have not yet acquired. Where can I get more information? Visit the HPV webpage for more information on HPV and cervical cancer. Visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more information on HPV Vaccine. Sources American Cancer Society. Detailed Guide: Cervical Cancer. What are the Key Statistics about Cervical Cancer? Last updated October 31, 2005. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA News: FDA Licenses New Vaccine for Prevention of Cervical Cancer and Other Diseases in Females Caused by Human Papillomavirus. Harper DM, Franco EL, Wheeler C, et al; HPV Vaccine Study Group. Sustained efficacy up to 4.5 years of a bivalent L1 virus-like particle vaccine against human papillomavirus types 16 and 18: follow-up from a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2006; 367(9518): 1247-1255. Ho GY, Bierman R, Beardsley L, et al. Natural history of cervicovaginal papillomavirus infection as measured by repeated DNA testing in adolescent and young women. N Engl J Med. 1998; 338(7):423-428. Koutsky LA. Epidemiology of genital human papillomavirus infection. Am J Med. 1997; 102(5A):3-8. Mao C, Koutsky LA, Ault KA, et al. Efficacy of human papillomavirus-16 vaccine to prevent cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: a randomized controlled trial. Obstet Gynecol. 2006; 107(1):18-27. National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH Consensus Statement: Cervical Cancer. 1996; 14:1-38. Villa LL, Costa RLR, Petta CA, et al. Prophylactic quadrivalent human papillomavirus (types 6, 11, 16, and 18) L1 virus-like particle vaccine in young women: a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled multicentre phase II efficacy trial. The Lancet Oncology, 2005; 6(5): 271-278. Weinstock H, Berman S, Cates W, Jr. Sexually transmitted diseases among American youth: incidence and prevalence estimates, 2000. Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2004; 36(1):6-10. This information was adapted from the CDC HPV Vaccine Questions and Answers webpage. |
| |
 |