Should women older than 18 get the HPV vaccine?
Source: www.washingtonpost.com Author: Erin Blakemore About half of American teenagers have been vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. Should adult women follow suit? Yes, says Lauri Markowitz, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention medical epidemiologist who has worked with the advisory committee that makes national vaccination recommendations. “Women 18 to 26 should be vaccinated.” There’s good reason to follow that recommendation. According to the American Cancer Society, about 12,820 new cases of cervical cancer will be diagnosed in U.S. women this year and more than 4,000 will die of the disease. HPV is thought to be responsible for more than 90 percent of all cervical and anal cancers in men and women. The virus also causes vaginal, vulvar and throat cancers and genital warts. Although the majority of HPV infections do not cause cancer — most people with an infection never show any symptoms, and infections usually go away on their own — some strains are particularly dangerous. Gardasil 9, the newest HPV vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration, protects against nine such strains and, researchers say, may be able to prevent up to 90 percent of cervical cancers. (Older vaccines protect against fewer strains of HPV.) However, confusion about the way HPV vaccines protect against infection can deter some women. Gardasil 9 is approved for women up to age 26. Like other vaccines, it spurs the body’s immune system to defend itself against a virus. The [...]