The
American Cancer Society estimates that in 2008, 11,070
women were diagnosed with cervical cancer in the U.S.
There is a vaccine for cervical genital HPV which was
introduced in 2006 to protect woman from contracting the
virus. It protects women against HPV subtypes 6 and 11,
which cause 90% of genital warts, and 16 and 18, which
together cause 70% of cervical cancers in women. It has
been considered safe by the CDC and has been approved
by the FDA.
The vaccine
is recommended for girls who are 12 or 13 and it can be
given to women as old as 26 who have not been diagnosed
with the disease or who have not previously been given
the vaccine. Research has shown that the vaccine is 95-100%
effective at protecting women from contracting HPV, but
it is not as effective for women who are already sexually
active, as they may have already been infected with the
virus.
As the vaccine
also targets cervical cancer the vaccine is commonly known
as the cervical cancer vaccine rather than the genital
warts vaccine. Even with the genital warts vaccine women
will still need to have pap smears regularly to check
for cervical cancer, as 30% of cervical cancers are not
covered by the vaccine.
The
vaccine has started to be tested on men and has been approved
for men in some areas in the UK.
Some experts recommend yearly anal Pap tests for gay and
bisexual men and for HIV-positive persons because anal
cancer is more common in these populations.
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