3 cheers & 3 shots for "older" women

Over 26?

Think the HPV Vaccine is not for you?

THINK AGAIN!

UNITED STATES: "Aggressive Vaccine Effort Could Cut Cervical Cancer"
Reuters (10.26.08):: Julie Steenhuysen

A new mathematical model shows cervical cancer rates could be cut in half for US women up to age 45 if every female were vaccinated against human papillomavirus, the common STD linked to cervical cancer, researchers said Saturday at the 48th Annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Washington.

Warner Huh of the University of Alabama and colleagues found that vaccinating US women by ages 12 through 45 against HPV could reduce cases of cervical cancer by 85 percent for 12-year-olds and up to 55 percent in 45-year-olds. For 25-year-old women, rates could drop by 34-67 percent, the model showed. However, the model assumed 100 percent vaccination rates, which would be difficult to achieve in the United States.

The HPV vaccine Gardasil is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in females ages nine to 26. Experts believe the vaccine is most effective when given before females become sexually active.

Gardasil's maker, Merck & Co., is seeking to expand its use to older women. Gardasil does not offer protection for females who have already been infected with the HPV strains it targets: types 16 and 18 - the cause of around 70 percent of all cervical cancer cases - and types 6 and 11 - which cause genital warts.

The team's calculation included clinical trial data on GlaxoSmithKline's HPV vaccine Cervarix, which is not yet approved for the US market but is approved for sale in Europe. Huh assumed Cervarix gave 95 percent protection against HPV types 16 and 18 and 27 percent efficacy against all other high-risk HPV types.