SAN JOSÉ – The Costa Rican Ministry of Health announced on Friday that it had extended the age of human papillomavirus vaccination for girls aged 14 and 15, with the aim of preventing cervical cancer, which causes one death every three days in the country. .
The National Commission for Vaccination and Epidemiology (CNVE) in extraordinary session approved the joint efforts to vaccinate as many girls as possible to strengthen their immune systems and, at the same time, extend the age of vaccination.
“It was agreed, for the rest of the year, to strengthen all recruitment activities for girls who are eligible for human papillomavirus vaccination and to extend the vaccination age to 14 and up to 15 years,” he said. explained in a statement. the director of health surveillance, Rodrigo Marín.
The Commission also authorized the increase in the number of first responders for varicella vaccination, as well as the application of the pentavalent vaccine for children under 13 and 14 months and use in boys and girls as young as four. years as an option to the quadrivalent.
The ministry indicated that the vaccine is a public health action to reduce the impact of cervical cancer in the country, as a new case of this type of cancer is diagnosed every day and every three days a woman dies from this disease. .
Additionally, according to official data, cervical cancer ranks fifth by incidence and sixth by mortality among women with cancer in Costa Rica.
According to experts, the papilloma virus is so common that almost all men and women contract it at some point in their adult life. In most cases, and thanks to the body’s defenses, the virus disappears on its own, without causing health problems.
However, when the virus remains in the body for a long time, it can cause health problems such as genital warts or cancer.
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