Dramatic drop in genital warts after HPV vax
NEW data shows genital wart diagnoses fell by 93% in women vaccinated against human papillomavirus, demonstrating the extraordinary success of Australia’s national HPV vaccination program.
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HPV
The following articles have the tag HPV
Fast Forward - 6 November 2012
MO looks back 10 years, casting a fresh eye over what made the news in 2002. Then we hit the fast-forward button to see what’s changed.
HPV vax uptake poor in older women
RATES of HPV vaccination among women aged 27–45 are low at 1.9%, with GPs expressing reservations about immunising this age group, Australian research has found.
Focus on cervix a turn-off for boys?
A REVAMPED, gender-neutral public information campaign will be needed to achieve high uptake of the HPV vaccine among boys, a sexual health expert warns.
Universal HPV vax may stymie growth in head and neck cancers
AUSTRALIA’S world-first decision to extend funding of the quadrivalent HPV vaccine to boys will boost protection for girls and reduce the growing burden of head and neck cancers, experts say.
Gardasil now funded for boys
THE HPV vaccine Gardasil will be available free to boys from next year at a cost of $21 million to the government, Health Minister Tanya Plibersek has announced.
HPV vax improves attitude to safe sex
AUSTRALIAN research has countered the view that vaccinating young women against human papillomavirus (HPV) could encourage risky sexual behaviour.
Oral HPV infection more likely in men
MEN are three times as likely as women to have an oral infection with human papillomavirus (HPV), according to the first major prevalence study in the US.
Oral sex: it’s not all talk
The practice of oral sex and the attitude towards it across the generations. Introduction THERE is no doubt that society has become generally more permissive and open-minded when it comes to sex, and it is therefore not surprising that some individuals have also broadened their sexual repertoire, but the greatest changes are seen between generations. Indeed, the sex lives of our parents and grandparents were probably different from the sex lives and experiences of younger generations. One of the most stark differences is oral sex. The Australian study of health and ...
Cervical abnormalities fall after HPV vaccine program
HIGH-GRADE cervical abnormalities (HGA) have nearly halved in Victorian girls younger than 18 years since the introduction of the HPV vaccination program, a study shows. The world’s first analysis of changes in incidence of precancerous cervical lesions in the wake of a population-wide program of HPV vaccination showed the decrease was progressive and linear in this age group, lead author Dr Julia Brotherton said. Dr Brotherton, from the Victorian Cytology Service Registry, found HGA incidence declined by 0.38% in the youngest vaccinated cohort shortly after the introduction of the vaccination program, compared to an incidence of 0.85% ...
Cervical abnormalities fall after HPV vaccine program
HIGH-GRADE cervical abnormalities (HGA) have nearly halved in Victorian girls younger than 18 years since the introduction of the HPV vaccination program, a study shows. The world’s first analysis of changes in incidence of precancerous cervical lesions in the wake of a population-wide program of HPV vaccination showed the decrease was progressive and linear in this age group, lead author Dr Julia Brotherton said. Dr Brotherton, from the Victorian Cytology Service Registry, found HGA incidence declined by 0.38% in the youngest vaccinated cohort shortly after the introduction of the vaccination program, compared to an incidence of 0.85% ...
Govt rejects free HPV vax for boys
A BID to expand the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program to include adolescent boys has failed due to uncertain cost-effectiveness. Vaccine maker CSL had applied to add boys to the existing school-based Gardasil vaccination program of 12- to 13-year-old girls under the National Immunisation Program. The sponsor also wanted to see a catch-up program over two years for Year 9 males. “The PBAC [Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee] rejected the submission because of unacceptably high and uncertain cost-effectiveness,” according to minutes from the March PBAC meeting posted on the PBS website last week. A CSL spokeswoman ...
Cervical cancer vaccination rates are missing targets
THE first official figures on the uptake of the quadrivalent HPV vaccine under the National Immunisation Program confirm many girls are failing to complete the three-dose course. Figures released by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing show 83% of girls aged 12–13 years in 2007 had received their first dose of Gardasil by December 2009, but this fell to 80% for the second dose and 73% for the third dose. A similar mild drop-off was seen in 14–15 and 16–17 year olds offered catch-up immunisation. Cancer Council Australia spokesperson Kate Broun called for more up-to-date ...
Distracted schoolgirls make better vax patients
SCHOOLGIRLS waiting for immunisation should be allowed distractions such as listening to iPods, say Australian researchers who witnessed sobbing, screaming and fainting on school vaccination days. Mass vaccination with the quadrivalent HPV vaccine under the National Immunisation Program posed challenges in school settings due to the "intense fear response" from adolescent girls, the researchers said. After interviews with 130 school girls, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, as well as parents, teachers and nurses, the researchers found long waits and witnessing other girls' vaccinations allowed fears to build, so that the atmosphere was much worse at the end of ...
Parents' fears may be preventing HPV vaccine uptake
PARENTAL fear that HPV vaccination leads to early sexual initiation may underlie a poor uptake of Gardasil, Cancer Council Australia says. With a study last year showing one in four eligible girls are not taking up the offer of free vaccine under the National Immunisation Program, the council says we need better education on its benefits. Another study of schoolgirls in Year 10 and Year 12 revealed an "alarming" lack of knowledge about HPV transmission and its link to cervical cancer, council spokeswoman Kate Broun said. Some parents were concerned about a vaccine against sexually transmitted ...
HPV detection may hinge on hormonal fluctuation: study
THE timing of HPV DNA tests in relation to a woman’s menstrual cycle may be important because of hormonal fluctuations, researchers say. In a study of self-sampling among 2000 women aged 18 to 29 years, Dutch researchers found high-risk HPV detection varied depending on the stage of the cycle at which it was taken and whether the woman was using the contraceptive pill. However, being on the Pill did not affect the incidence or persistence of high-risk HPV overall. Among women using the Pill, high-risk HPV detection increased during the second half of their monthly cycle, ...
Teenagers clueless on HPV’s link to cancer
EVEN sexually active high school students appear to have little knowledge of HPV and its relationship with genital warts and cervical cancer. With the emphasis on immunisation against cervical cancer, an opportunity may have been missed to bring about greater understanding of HPV as an STI, researchers suggest. Three thousand students from 105 Australian public and independent schools took part in a government-funded survey, which found only a third had heard of HPV. Girls were much more likely than boys (43% vs 19%) to be aware of the virus, and that was largely because of the ...
US experts review circumcision advice
US paediatricians are reviewing whether to change their position and advocate neonatal circumcision as the evidence of benefits linked to the procedure grows. The findings from three randomised trials published since 2005 have provided the impetus for professional bodies such as the American Academy of Pediatrics to revise recommendations, experts wrote in a leading journal. The three trials found neonatal circumcision reduced HIV acquisition by at least 53%, HSV 2 acquisition by at least 28%, and HPV prevalence by 32% in men, they said. In addition, one study found female partners of circumcised men ...
More evidence backing HPV for cervical screening
HPV DNA testing has again proved to be more effective than cytology when used for cervical screening of women older than 35. A European Union-backed study of more than 94,000 women aged 25 to 60 years found that when compared to Pap smears, HPV testing detected more high-grade lesions at an earlier stage. In the study Italian investigators randomised participants in two rounds of screening. Similar rates of invasive cancers were detected in the first round, but in ...
The future of cervical screening
Advice not to subsidise newer cervical screening tests has angered experts but a new committee looking at the future of the national screening program will still consider their future role. Rada Rouse reports. PATHOLOGISTS who have been pioneering the use of the latest cervical screening technologies in Australia have been frustrated by repeated efforts to attract government funding. Years of discussions and meetings, but no action, have left them concerned that Australia now lags behind other developed nations and the lack of funding is forcing younger women to face unnecessary investigations. The latest rebuff, ...
Routine circumcision supported by evidence
AS the expert peer reviewer for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians’ (RACP) new policy statement on circumcision, I was surprised to see its summary statement appear on the RACP’s website on 27 August. The timing of this posting is interesting, coming as it did within days of an article in The New York Times stating that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention planned to mandate infant circumcision and that the American Academy of Pediatrics would be moving from a neutral to a positive stance. These bodies referred to the lifetime benefits of circumcision, ...
Cervical screening program under review
CHANGE is coming for Australia’s cervical cancer screening program, which is set to be overhauled in the wake of new technologies and HPV vaccination. A senior bureaucrat from the Federal Health Department told the recent Preventing Cervical Cancer 2009 conference in Melbourne that a strategy to review the national program had been developed, and that the process would take at least 2.5 years, according to sources in attendance. The review was welcomed by cytologist Professor Annabelle Farnsworth, who wrote an editorial in the Medical Journal of Australia last year calling for a revamp ...
Evidence supporting benefits of circumcision growing
EXPERT advice on whether boys should be circumcised may soon change, after a trial found the procedure offered men protection against herpes and human papilloma virus (HPV) infection. With Australian and American paediatric bodies already reviewing their policies against routine neonatal circumcision, evidence is mounting that it reduces sexually transmitted infection. Researchers who demonstrated that circumcision of adult African men halved HIV transmission have now shown that it also reduces the risk of contracting HSV-2 by 25%, and the risk of HPV by 35 per cent. The benefits of circumcision should “guide public health policies” from ...
HPV vaccine effective in males: study
YOUNG gay men should be vaccinated against HPV, a leading sexual health expert has advised in the wake of the first male efficacy data for the quadrivalent HPV vaccine. Professor Basil Donovan, from the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, and the Sydney Sexual Health Centre, said the trial in 4000 men aged 16 to 26 years suggested that the vaccine worked in men in a similar fashion to women to prevent cancer. “There had been a lingering doubt whether the vaccine would work as well in men as in women because of the type ...
World report - 30 May
• HPV VAX TOO EXPENSIVE THE rollout of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines in developing countries has been hindered by high costs. An editorial in The Lancet reported Merck’s HPV vaccine, Gardasil, was the most expensive childhood vaccine in the world, costing $375 for the three doses scheduled. Experts recently convened in Mexico City to discuss the obstacles affecting cervical cancer control in Latin America and the Caribbean. A report presented at the meeting estimated 70,000 women in the region would die of cervical cancer annually over the next 20 years. However, the ...
Cervarix may last for 20 years
RECIPIENTS of the bivalent HPV vaccine Cervarix may not need a booster within 20 years of their initial vaccination, according to its manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Mathematical modelling by GSK Biologicals, Belgium, suggested that HPV-16 and HPV-18 antibody levels would remain “several-fold” higher than those associated with natural infection for at least 20 years, a conference was told. Meanwhile, GSK has demonstrated actual measurement of antibodies in a cohort of 700 women showing they are sustained at high levels for at least 6.4 years after immunisation. The follow-up study of HPV-naive women aged 15-25 years represented the ...
Cervical screening rethink urged
AUSTRALIA urgently needs a formal review of human papilloma virus (HPV) DNA testing as a primary screen for detection of cervical cancer, The Cancer Council Australia says. A report from an expert roundtable convened by the council said the introduction of HPV immunisation left the sustainability of the existing National Cervical Screening Program in doubt. According to estimates by vaccine inventor Professor Ian Frazer, when vaccinated women enter the screening program, high-grade lesions will drop by 50% and low-grade lesions by 20%, reducing the positive predictive value of diagnoses, the report Best Practice in Cervical ...