In June 2006, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommended a new vaccine to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV). Since the fall of 2006, KYCC has been involved with a community education project about the HPV vaccine, funded by the CDC through the National Asian Women’s Health Organization (NAWHO).

 

The Link Between Cervical Cancer And HPV

Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in women, killing about 300,000 every year worldwide. In the U.S. every year, about 11,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and about 4,000 die from the disease. Korean American women are more than twice as likely as white women to get cervical cancer. Korean American women are also more likely to die from cervical cancer due to lack of early detection through Pap tests. The HPV vaccine protects against four types of HPV, two of which cause about 70 percent of all cervical cancer cases. 

Who Should Be Vaccinated And How?

The HPV vaccine is recommended for all girls between 11 and 12 years of age. Teenage and adult women between the ages of 13 and 26 can also be vaccinated if they did not get the vaccine when younger. The vaccine is given in a series of three shots. The second shot is given two months after the first, and the third shot is given six months after the first.  There are other vaccinations that children should received between the ages of 10 and 12 so the HPV vaccine can be given along with these other booster vaccinations.

Why Should My Daughter Be Vaccinated?

Studies in 21,000 girls and young women found that the vaccine was 100 percent effective in preventing persistent infections caused by four severe types of HPV. It is these persistent infections that may lead to cervical cancer decades after the initial HPV infection. Although most HPV infections occur in teenagers and young adults, cervical cancer is more common in women during their 40s and 50s. 

 

Each year, 6 million Americans become infected with HPV. Your daughter has an 80 percent chance of becoming infected with HPV by the time she is 50. That is because HPV often does not show any symptoms in men.  Your daughter could be infected by her husband without knowing it. In the future, the HPV vaccine will probably also be recommended for boys.  Studies are underway to see whether the vaccine will be effective for boys.  For now, the only way to protect your daughter from cervical cancer in the future is to get her vaccinated.

 

For more information about cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine, you can visit NAWHO’s Web site at www.nawho.org/pubs/NAWHOCC.pdf or the CDC’s Web site at www.cdc.gov/std/hpv and www.cdc.gov/nip.