Young women urged to get new HPV vaccine to prevent most cervical cancers, genital warts
Vaccine arriving locally this week
BY LISA NEWELL Gulf Breeze News lisa@gulfbreezenews.com

For more information about the HPV vaccine, Contact Dr. Vicky Griffin at 916-4300

The Human Papillomavirus, or HPV, is directly linked to cervical cancer, yet almost 80 percent of the population has some form of it.

Now, a vaccine is being shipped to area doctors to dispense to girls and young women between the ages of 9 and 26.

"We're trying to get them before they become sexually active," said Dr. Vicky Griffin, a Gulf Breeze obstetrician /gynecologist, who is currently accepting appointments in anticipation of receiving the vaccine this week.

In the US alone, approximately 10,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year, and an average of 10 women die each day from the disease, according to a statement by Merck pharmaceuticals, developer of the vaccine named Gardasil.

The vaccination was approved June 8 by the US Food and Drug Administration after being tested for five years on 20,541 girls from age 16 to 26. The vaccine is indicated for prevention of cervical cancer, precancerous and dysplastic lesions and genital warts caused by HPT types 6, 11, 16 and 18. There is no risk of contracting the virus from the vaccine because it is made from a protein, and there is no mercury in the vaccine.

"HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, and it's very common," said Dr. Griffin. "Eighty percent of the population carries one type of the HPV."

She added that two of the most common strains associated with cervical cancer, HPV 16 and 18, cause 70 percent of the cervical cancers.

"That's why this vaccine is so cool. We're going to get rid of 70 percent of cervical cancers," Dr. Griffin said. "This is like being on the cusp of the polio vaccine. It's exciting."

HPV strains 6 and 11 are responsible for the majority of genital warts.

"(The strain that causes genital warts) lays dormant in girls and pops out in the 40s," Dr. Griffin said.

Dr. Griffin said the vaccine is a three-shot series, administered in muscle. The first shot is followed by a shot in two months and another at the sixmonth mark.

The vaccine is not a cure-all for cancer, and women will still need to use protection against other sexually transmitted diseases such as Chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes and syphilis.

"I see it on a daily basis," Dr. Griffin said about sexually transmitted diseases. "Twentyfive percent of the American adult population is positive for herpes and only one in 10 is diagnosed."

Women will still need annual pap smears to check for cervical cancer from other causes, and checkups for general health.

Dr. Griffin says some people may think having their daughters vaccinated against HPV will make them more promiscuous.

"I say get your daughter vaccinated. Even if your daughter remains pure until marriage, if the man she marries isn't pure, she can contract the virus," Dr. Griffin said.