Vaccines against human papilloma virus reduce cancers, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:02 — 1.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Vaccines against human papilloma virus or HPV have been shown to dramatically reduce the rates of cervical cancer among recipients, data over decades now shows. Vaccine expert Anna Durbin at Johns Hopkins says males who receive the vaccine also reap benefits.

Durbin: It's incredibly effective, it reduces cervical cancer by close to 97%. It's an incredibly successful vaccine because it contains numerous different strains of HPV. Certainly 16 and 18, the most common strains that cause cervical cancer but also other strains that cause head and neck cancer, anal cancer. Originally it was the three dose vaccine. Now they're looking at 2 doses and WHO even is looking at a single dose vaccine. We need more data to see what the durability of that protective immune response is with the single dose.  :33

Males who are vaccinated see reduced risk of some mouth and throat cancers. Ideally the HPV vaccine is given to all before they become sexually active. At Johns Hopkin, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.