The vaccine is given to girls aged 11 to 13 in the UK and, since 2019, boys can also get it, reports the BBC. Girls aged 12 and 13 can also receive the vaccine in the Netherlands. In our country, more than 800 women get cervical cancer every year. More than 200 women die from the disease every year. The vaccine has been included in the vaccination package for boys this year.
Fewer smears
According to the British researchers, the success also means that fewer smears may need to be taken in the future. That would be great, because almost 90 percent of all deaths with this disease come from countries where there is little access to the screening.
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The vaccine prevents infection with the human papilloma virus, or HPV for short. Once the virus has entered the body, the vaccine cannot do anything about it. Because the virus is mainly transmitted through sex, the vaccine is given to young girls and boys up to 13 years of age. Most have never had sex at that age.
‘Impact enorm’
Even after you have had sex, it makes sense to take the vaccine. “The shot is especially useful if you have not yet been infected with HPV. But if you have already had sex, you may not have been infected yet. So it makes sense to get the shot too,” reports the KWF.
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The British study focused on what happened to girls after the vaccine was introduced in 2008. Those girls are now in their 20s and so the decline in cervical cancer has been significant. “The impact is huge,” said one of the researchers.
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