New vaccine against HPV at Dr Murthy’s medical and gastro clinic |14 December 2012

The vaccine is designed to prevent infection from HPV types 16 and 18 that cause about 70% of cervical cancer (kanser kol matris) cases.

These types also cause most HPV-induced genital and head and neck cancers. Additionally, some cross-reactive protection against virus strains 45 and 31 were shown in clinical trials.

Cervarix also contains AS04, a proprietary adjuvant that has been found to boost the immune system response for a longer period of time.

It is normally taken in three doses between a six-month interval and girls from 10 years can start taking the vaccine.

HPV is a common infection that most men and women acquire at some point in their lives and it causes cervical cancer and other health problems, leading to about 530,000 cervical cancer diagnoses and 275,000 deaths each year. Eighty-eight percent of deaths occur in the developing world.

There are more than 100 types of HPV, most of which do not cause severe disease.
Low-risk types of HPV can cause genital warts whereas high-risk types can lead to cancer of the cervix, vagina, anus, and penis. Cervical cancer is the most common by far.

Usually, HPV infections resolve without causing health problems, but sometimes they persist and these are the cases that can progress, over many years, into life-threatening cervical cancer.

Treatment at the “pre-cancer” stage is relatively simple and does not cause serious health problems to the patient and has high rates of success.

When given to girls and young women prior to sexual debut, new vaccines against the HPV have proven to be more than 92 percent effective in preventing persistent HPV infection and 100 percent effective in preventing vaccine type-specific cervical lesions (pre-cancer).