New Vaccine Protects Against Cervical Cancer

A new vaccine is designed to protect women against the human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6, 11, 16, and 18. The vaccine has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Called Gardasil, the vaccine was developed by Merck & Co. (Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA). HPV types 16 and 18 cause an estimated 70% of cervical cancer cases, while types 6 and 11 account for 90% of genital wart cases. In all, scientists have identified 100 different strains of HPV.

The FDA is recommending that women aged 11-26 receive the vaccine, which is administered as three shots over a period of six months. To date, the vaccine has been shown to be effective only against strains to which women have not yet been exposed. Thus, the new vaccine is seen as a preventive measure for women who are not yet sexually active. The cost of the vaccine is estimated at about $500.

In most women, HPV disappears on its own but high-risk types, if unrecognized and untreated, can lead to cervical cancer. In the United States alone, an estimated 10,000 cases of cervical cancer were diagnosed in 2005, and there were around 3,700 deaths from the disease. There are an estimated 4.7 million abnormal results of U.S. Pap tests each year that require follow-up. At least three million of these results are thought to be caused by some type of HPV.



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