© © Uladzislau Salikhau
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The number of cervical cancers has fallen in British women who have received a vaccine against the HPV infection that causes these cancers. That’s according to a recently published study.
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Source: BELGIAN
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“Our study provides direct evidence of the effect of vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV), via the bivalent Cervarix vaccine, on the incidence of cervical cancer,” said the authors of the study, which is published in The Lancet.
Cervical cancer is almost always caused by the sexually transmitted HPV infection. Vaccines against that infection have been available since the mid-2000s. Many countries, including Belgium, therefore started a campaign to encourage people to be vaccinated against it.
According to the findings of the study, there has been a marked decline in the number of cervical cancers in women eligible for the UK vaccination campaign, which started in 2008. That reduction is most evident in women who were vaccinated at age 12 or 13, with an estimated 87 percent reduction in cases.
However, there are limitations associated with the study. Because even without vaccination, there is only a limited number of cervical cancers in women younger than 25, who were the subject of the study. Further research will therefore have to be carried out in the coming years.
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