Why get vaccinated against HPV? “ No one is immune from the potential for exposure ”



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A Johns Hopkins MD observing the January Cervical Health Awareness Month wants to highlight the importance of gynecological screenings.

In this August 28, 2006 file photo, a doctor holds a vial of Gardasil’s human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in his Chicago office. (AP Photo / Charles Rex Arbogast, file)

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption for people seeking preventive health care, but a doctor from Johns Hopkins Medicine stresses the importance of gynecological screenings during the cervical health awareness month of January.

Cervical cancer was the leading cause of cancer death in women in the United States, but that has changed in recent decades, in large part because of regular Pap tests.

“The combined impact of two interventions, vaccine and screening, has led to a drastic decrease in cervical cancer in our country and a real opportunity for women to be empowered to take care of their own health. and well-being – which is very exciting for those of us who care for women every day, ”said Dr. Stephanie Wethington, director of the Susan L. Burgert MD Gynecologic Oncology Survivorship Program.

“We’ve updated what we consider to be the ‘Pap’ smear,” Wethington said.

The procedure now typically involves both examining cervical cells under a microscope and testing for human papillomavirus or, in some cases, only testing for HPV.

HPV is spread between people through skin-to-skin contact and is the most common sexually transmitted infection. This can lead to cancer of the cervix, anus, head and neck. But the HPV vaccine protects against it.

The vaccine is now recommended for boys and girls, as well as men and women, aged 9 to 45 years.

Wethington said HPV is “very, very common”.

“The vast majority of American men and women have been exposed to HPV at some point in their lives,” she said. “And that’s where the benefit of the vaccine comes from – because no one is immune from the potential for exposure.”

Many of the more than 100 varieties of HPV can be transmitted through sexual contact. Many people have HPV and don’t know it, which means they can pass it on to their partners without knowing it.

“One of the questions I often get from individuals is that they’ve been with their partner for a long time and maybe they don’t need to. But what we don’t know are past exhibits and also what might change in the future, ”Wethington said.

The American Sexual Health Association is hosting a “Us vs HPV” webinar January 25-29, 12 noon to 1 p.m.

“More than 13,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year, a fact all the more frustrating as the disease is almost always preventable with vaccination and appropriate screening,” said the group website.

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