The HPV vaccine could potentially eradicate cervical cancer, according to an Associate Professor from University of Auckland.
Associate Professor Nikki Turner, University of Auckland's director for the Immunisation Advisory Centre, said academics were discussing the HPV vaccine’s potentially ending cervical cancer, the fourth most common cancer in the world.
“The international academic community is talking about the ability of the HPV vaccine to eradicate cervical cancer, that is absolutely incredible,” she said.
An international review of the HPV vaccine, published in the Cochrane Library, found it's both effective and safe.
“This review is not new data, it’s looking at 26 different large published studies on more than 73,000 young woman and it shows what we already knew, is that there is a high degree of confidence in the fact that these vaccines are effective against the pre-cursors to cervical cancer and they have excellent safety profiles,” she said.
“This vaccine is to prevent cervical cancer, it also prevents some other really nasty cancers of the genitals, the mouth, the throat,” she said.
“The one (vaccine) we use in NZ also dramatically reduces the risk of genital warts.”
The study, published in the Cochrane Library, looked at 73,000 women, and found the vaccine protects against cervical lesions.
Associate Professor Turner encouraged those that are against vaccination to look at the science.
“You imagine when you vaccinate a lot of people, things can go wrong at the same time, what this combined data shows us which we did already know but it shows us very well is that there’s no difference in sever outcomes between a vaccinated versus an unvaccinated person.”
She said it was important to note that the numbers of people not being vaccinated in NZ had not grown and those who did get vaccines could carry those that were unvaccinated.
“Because of the concept of herd immunity, the rest of us can carry that, if you vaccinate enough people you stop the spread of these diseases,” she said.
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