The official MedZine Blog

Women who received one or all three HPV vaccines after becoming sexually active have lower rates of abnormal Pap test results than women who were not vaccinated. This is shown by recent research of the Boston University School of Public Health and School of Medicine, which is published in the  journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases.

Sexually active
In a cross-sectional study, Brogly and colleagues analyzed 235 sexually active, minority, low-income women between 21 and 30 with a Pap test. 96 of them received at least one HPV injection, 54 completed the series. 97 percent was already sexually active when they received the vaccines.

It was shown that the prevalence of an abnormal Pap test of women who received at least one vaccine, while being sexually active, was 65 percent lower compared to the women who didn’t get any vaccine. Though, the best results are seen when giving the vaccines to girls younger than 14 years old.

Rising slightly
Earlier this week, American research showed that the amount of young women getting vaccinated is rising slightly. But the number is still too low, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their analysis, through phone surveys, showed that 57 percent of the girls between 13 and 17 received at least one vaccine in the year 2013. In 2012 this was the case for 54 percent. 38 percent received all three vaccines, in 2012 this was 33 percent. The research could be biased, it's possible that those who agreed to participate were more likely to get HPV vaccinations.

In the Netherlands, the amount of girls receiving the HPV vaccine, is around 56 percent. Also this number is slightly increasing. Medical professionals hope the number will increase to at least 80 percent to improve the prevention even more.

Sources: STD Journal, CBS news, MedZine