Vaccine to Prevent HPV virus

FDA Approves a Vaccine to Prevent Cervical Cancer

Food and Drug Administration:FDA approved the first
vaccine that should prevent cervical cancer.

The vaccine works by building immunity against the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus:HPV which high relation to cervical cancer.

This vaccine, called “GARDISIL” which was approved for women ages between 9 and 26. The prospect of young girls receiving the vaccine has disturbed some social conservatives, who adamantly oppose efforts to make the vaccination mandatory. They say that sexual abstinence is the best way to avoid getting the virus.

Normally the widespread method to detect human papillomavirus:HPV use pap smears test -- which detect precancerous lesions and early cancer -- has dramatically reduced the number of cases. Officials said despite the effectiveness of the new vaccine, women should continue to get pap smears because about a quarter of cervical cancer cases are caused by viruses that are not blocked by the vaccine.

“GARDISIL” was developed by MERCK Co., and the company said the catalogue price for “GARDISIL” will be $120 per dose, and protection will require three doses over six months. That price has raised concerns that the vaccine will not be widely available to poor women or in less developed nations, where incidence of cervical cancer is considerably higher than in the United States.

The vaccine was reviewed and approved within six months by the FDA after the agency deemed it a priority product. It is genetically engineered and does not contain live viruses that could theoretically cause disease.The disease used to be far more common in the United States, but the widespread use of pap smears -- which detect precancerous lesions and early cancer -- has dramatically reduced the number of cases.

Officials said despite the effectiveness of the new vaccine, women should continue to get pap smears because about a quarter of cervical cancer cases are caused by viruses that are not blocked by the vaccine.While the vaccine is almost 100 percent effective in protecting against four variants of HPV, the FDA said it may not protect people already infected and might increase their risk of developing the kind of lesions that can lead to cervical cancer.

FDA's approval was almost universally hailed, but the vaccine could yet become controversial. Vaccines are always most effective when there is a "herd immunity," when enough people are immunized that
the pathogen gradually disappears.

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