Health Authorities, Students Leaders Campaign To Inform College Students About HPV Vaccine Gardasil, Washington Post Reports

Main Category: Cervical Cancer / HPV Vaccine
Article Date: 10 Apr 2007 - 9:00 PDT


Health authorities and student leaders at colleges and universities since the approval of Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil have been "waging a campaign" to inform youth about HPV and the vaccine, the Washington Post reports (Sessions Stepp, Washington Post, 4/3). Gardasil in clinical trials has been shown to be 100% effective in preventing infection with HPV strains 16 and 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases, and about 99% effective in preventing HPV strains 6 and 11, which together with strains 16 and 18 cause about 90% of genital wart cases, among women not already infected with these HPV strains. Gardasil also protects against vaginal and vulvar cancers, two other gynecological cancers that are linked to HPV, according to a study presented in Atlanta at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. FDA in July 2006 approved Gardasil for sale and marketing to girls and women ages nine to 26. CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices later that month voted unanimously to recommend that girls ages 11 and 12 receive the vaccine. The ACIP recommendation also allows for girls as young as nine to receive the vaccine and recommends that girls and women ages 13 to 26 receive Gardasil (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 4/2). According to the Post, health authorities are following the progress of the vaccine on college campuses because male and female students are at a high risk of acquiring HPV. A recent CDC study found that nearly 45% of women between ages 20 and 24 have HPV. Health authorities have found that there is some acceptance of information about HPV and the vaccine among college students but that there also is "ambivalence and confusion," the Post reports. Michael Cohen, professor emeritus of pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, said that information does not compel changes in behavior, especially for social behaviors such as sex. Renee Jenkins, president-elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said that behavior change among college students may not occur quickly with increased access to information but that it will not occur at all if information is not available (Washington Post, 4/3).

Washington Post reporter Laura Sessions Stepp and Monique Powell Davis and Genea Lawrence, both of Howard University Hospital, on Tuesday participated in a washingtonpost.com chat about HPV and young people. A transcript of the chat is available online.

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