A study carried out in England showed that the HPV vaccination was responsible for the 87% drop in cases of cervical cancer — especially in women vaccinated in their teens.
In an interview with CNN this Friday (5), Cecilia Rotelli, president of the National Commission Specialized in Vaccines of the Brazilian Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Associations (Febrasgo), explained that making girls and boys receive this immunizing agent while still in adolescence prevents against a disease that may develop in the future.
“We have the vaccine available at Basic Health Units (UBS) for girls aged 9 to 14, for boys aged 11 to 14 and for women aged up to 45 and with immunosuppression. But we are having enormous difficulty in achieving the desired coverage, which is always above 90%. Currently, the first dose is close to 50% to 52% [de cobertura], and the second is even worse”, says the specialist.
“The vaccine was available to them in 2017 and the situation for adolescents is worse because they do not see the disease, in addition to being very difficult to convince this age group to go to a health center to take two doses of an intramuscular vaccine.”
Adult women can also be vaccinated and will benefit from it, however, they run the risk of having already acquired the HPV virus in their teens. “For this reason, the adult woman, in addition to the vaccine, needs to be screened,” recalls Rotelli.
Reference: CNN Brasil
