Title: HPV vaccine and adolescents' sexual activity.

POPLINE Document Number: 299901

Author(s):

Lo B

Source citation:

BMJ. British Medical Journal, 2006 May 13;332(7550):1106-1107.

Abstract:

In June 2006 the US Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve a human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine which is over 90% effective in preventing new infections and precancerous cervical lesions caused by the HPV types that it covers. The vaccine prevents cancer through preventing sexual transmission of HPV types that cause cervical cancer. This link to a sexually transmitted infection raises ethical concerns that must be resolved if the benefits of preventing cancer are to be realised. The vaccine must be given before HPV infection is acquired. It is most likely to be recommended for 11-12 year olds, because by the ninth grade (age 14-15) 28% of girls in the US are sexually active. This has prompted some advocates of premarital abstinence to charge that HPV vaccination will condone or promote sexual promiscuity. However, its impact will probably be small because multiple factors are associated with initiation of sexual activity; fear of sexually transmitted infections is not a major reason for abstinence, and condom availability programmes have not been associated with behavioural disinhibition. (excerpt)

Keywords:

United States
Critique
Evaluation
Adolescents
Viral Diseases
Sex Behavior
Vaccines
USFDA
North America
Americas
Developed Countries
Youth
Age Factors
Population Characteristics
Demographic Factors
Population
Diseases
Behavior
Medical Procedures
Medicine
Health Services
Delivery of Health Care
Health
USPHS
Government Agencies
Organizations
Political Factors
Sociocultural Factors