The Controversial HPV Vaccine: The Only Vaccine That Prevents Cancer

Just-released clinical trial results reveal that the new HPV vaccine provides even more protection against cancers than before. But, according to a new survey from Planned Parenthood, parents still have not warmed up to it.HPV, or the human papillomavirus, is the most common sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the world. The virus can resolve itself in the body on its own, but many cases can eventually result in anal, cervical, mouth and throat, penile, vaginal and vulvar cancers.

And while a vaccine exists to prevent HPV and its future side effects — the only cancer-preventing vaccine currently in existence — only 37.6 percent of girls and 13.9 percent of boys ages 13-17 got all three doses of the vaccine in 2013. In a survey shared exclusively with Yahoo Health, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and NYU’s Center

for Latino Adolescent and Family Health polled a national representative sample of 1663 children, age 9 to 21, and their parents, to investigate awareness about HPV, the cancers it causes, and the vaccine’s safety and efficacy. 

When It Comes To HPV ‘Parents Don’t Know A Lot’

Of those surveyed by Planned Parenthood, only about a third (30.7 percent) of parents had elected to have their children vaccinated with all three doses needed for complete protection. An additional 4.8 percent had children who had received two out of the three necessary doses, while another 6.7 percent had only one of the three necessary doses. Over 40 percent of parents polled were either undecided about whether their child should receive the vaccine or had decided to not vaccinate their child against HPV. “What we saw very strongly [in our survey] were two things,” says Leslie Kantor, MPH, Vice President of Education for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, “One, that HPV is also a problem for boys and men and two, that a substantial number of folks are concerned with the safety of vaccines.” Kantor adds that what the survey “showed really clearly is that one problem overall is that parents don’t know a lot” when it comes to HPV, its risks, and the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.Of the 40.6 percent of those surveyed who have not yet vaccinated their children or are not planning to, about 70 percent of those named “safety concerns” as their reason for their indecision or choice to not vaccinate.

The HPV Vaccine Is The Only Vaccine That Prevents Cancer

“People don’t understand that HPV causes cancer. This is a vaccine to prevent cancer,” emphasizes Kantor, noting that there has somehow been a major public health failure in educating parents that electing to have their child receive the HPV vaccine “is to help protect their kids from cancer. There are many conversations on the internet and in social media about HPV vaccine safety, Anne Schuchat, MD, the Assistant Surgeon General for the Unites States Public Health Service and the Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), tells Yahoo Health. “All vaccines used in the U.S. are required to go through years of extensive safety testing before they are licensed by the FDA. HPV vaccines, like all vaccines, are continually monitored for safety. There have been no serious safety concerns linked to HPV vaccination.”

The New HPV Vaccine Provides Even Better Cancer Protection

A study being released on Thursday in the latest edition of the New England Journal of Medicine presents strong data in support of a trial of the new HPV vaccine, one which protects against even more strains of HPV and, thus, against even more instances of cancer. The clinical trial exhaustively proved that the new version of the vaccine protects against the nine types of HPV it sets out to protect against with 97 percent efficacy.“The current HPV vaccines both protect against HPV types 16 and 18 which cause most HPV cancers. One of those vaccines also protects against types 6 and 11, which cause most genital warts. The 9-valent HPV vaccine [which is reviewed in the New England Journal of Medicine] will still protect against infection with HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18. It will also protect against an additional 5 HPV types, which will provide more protection from cancers caused by HPV infection,” explains Schuchat. “The biggest surprise is that there was no surprise at all,” Elmar Joura, MD, an associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics at the Medical University of Vienna and lead researcher of the HPV vaccine study, tells Yahoo Health, “The vaccine did perfectly what it was expected to do: It perfectly prevented infection and disease and it was designed to prevent infection and disease.”

Kids Are More Worried About The Sex Aspect Of HPV — As Are Parents

“When you talk to young people, most of them think, ‘I’ll never get cancer’ and most are not aware of this threat,” says Joura, noting that this population however “has heard of genital warts and are much more afraid of getting them because they immediately affect their lives.” He also adds that, in his opinion, the biggest misconception about the HPV vaccine is “the connection between sexual transmission and the use of vaccines.” Joura says that while many parents have been hesitating to vaccinate their children because they believe the vaccine yields increased sexual activity, when you look at the data in comparison to the prevention of cancer and other diseases related to the virus in countries with excellent national coverage of the vaccine — such as Australia, where genital warts have been all but eradicated — the results speak for themselves.

And to those parents concerned about their children becoming sexually active — and sexually active at a young age — as a result of receiving the vaccine as recommended at the age of 11 or 12, Kantor says, “It is really, really important for parents to understand that this vaccine is recommended at ages 11 or 12 not because anyone thinks kids are having sex at 11 or 12, but because we want to give the body time to mount an immune response that is strong and active before it has any chance of being exposed [to HPV] … There have now been many, many studies that show there is no link between getting the HPV vaccine and starting to have sex earlier or having more sex. This vaccine gives no message to kids regarding having sex. What it does is prevent cancer from the most common sexually transmitted virus in the world.” The survey Kantor supervised on behalf of Planned Parenthood found that only 14.6 percent of those children polled who had received the vaccine had received it before the age of 13, the age at which it provides the most effective preventative results.

Source: yahoo health.com