Experts urge women to get HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer

Experts urge women to get HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer

New York — A report said that only close to 50% of American girls ages 13 to 17 had been vaccinated against HPV or Human Pappillomavirus that causes cervical cancer among women. The CDC or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would like to improve the numbers and hope to spread awareness to more women in an attempt to eliminate the deadly disease in the future.

Currently, there are over 100 strains of HPV. Some cause anal and genetic warts.  In most cases, the virus has been sexually transmitted but the body’s immune system has able to fight the infection. However, scientists warned that persistent and a repetitive exposure to HPV strains may lead to cervical cancer.

That’s why the CDC urges all girls 11-12 years old to get HPV vaccine as early as now. The group also recommends teenagers and women up to 26 years old to have a catch up vaccination against HPV.  Only a few girls heed CDC’s warning. In 2010, the CDC estimated only about 48% of 13-17 year old girls have at least been vaccinated once of the HPV vaccine. The figures may be higher as compared 2 years ago but still very low, the CDC says.

Posted by George Daniels on Thursday October 20 2011, 5:19 AM EDT. Ref: Yahoo. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0