The Health Nut Blog

It is extremely important that individuals who are sexually active learn what they can to protect themselves against diseases, such as the HPV virus. This virus affects a huge portion of the U.S. population; an estimated 50%. Along with this 50%, it is estimated that 80% of females will come in contact with this virus before they are fifty years old. The HPV vaccine was developed to prevent the exposure of the HPV virus in young women, with the hope of lowering the number of individuals who get the disease.

The vaccine for HPV is called Gardasil, and is marketed by Merck. It has been found to be nearly one hundred percent effective in preventing the four strains of HPV that, when put together, account for seventy percent of the cases of cervical cancer and ninety percent of the cases of genital warts. It is administered in three doses over a six-month period. The vaccine is most effective if it is given before females become sexually active. It is currently recommended that girls be vaccinated at about the ages of eleven or twelve. The vaccine can be safely administered to girls as young as nine, and women as old as twenty-six years of age. Investigations are currently being done to find out if the vaccine is safe and effective to administer to boys and young men.

If a woman is pregnant, then she should not be given the HPV vaccine; rather, she should wait until the baby is born and then take the vaccine. There are times, however, when the woman does not find out that she is pregnant until after beginning the treatment. If the individual has already starred taking the vaccine before she finds out that she is pregnant, then she should stop the treatment until after the birth of her baby.

Although the HPV vaccine does not protect against all of the strains of the Human Papilloma Virus that can cause cervical cancer, it can still significantly reduce a woman's risk. Since the virus is spread by skin-to-skin contact, condoms alone will not prevent the spread of the virus, as they do not cover all areas of the skin that may be infected. Any girl or young woman who is, or is going to be sexually active should be vaccinated against HPV. The jury is still out on whether the vaccine is safe and effective in males or in older women. However, those for whom the vaccine is approved will be at a significantly reduced risk of contracting genital warts, and a type of cancer that kills thousands of women every year.

# posted by NeilG @ 5:47 PM