Dec. 5, 2020—A major new study confirms what scientists have long suspected: Girls who get the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine are much less likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer when they're older.
But there's a catch, and it applies to both girls and boys, since both need the HPV vaccine. According to another recent report, many kids aren't getting their HPV shots when they do the most good—before they're 15.
Powerful new evidence
The first study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, involved nearly 1.7 million girls and women in Sweden. Some of the participants had received an HPV vaccine. Some had not.
Other studies had shown that getting the HPV vaccine helps prevent cancer-causing infections and precancerous lesions in the cervix. So it made sense to conclude that vaccination prevents cervical cancer in this way. But until now, no study had gone on long enough to confirm that.
Researchers followed the participants for 11 years. They found that:
Those who were vaccinated were 63% less likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer than those who had not had the shots.
The vaccine is even more effective when given at a younger age. Participants who received an HPV vaccine before age 17 were 90% less likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer by age 30 than those who were not vaccinated.
More than cervical cancer protection
HPV infections are spread through sexual contact. So it's best to vaccinate kids well before they are sexually active. And HPV can cause more than cervical cancer. Some infections also cause cancers of the vagina, penis, anus and throat, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports.
That's why CDC recommends vaccinating both girls and boys when they're 11 or 12 years old.
Some kids are falling behind
Despite the vaccine's potentially lifesaving benefits, the U.S. appears to have fallen short of a key goal for protecting children, according to the second study, published in the journal Pediatrics.
Vaccine rates have gone steadily up for girls and boys since HPV vaccines were approved in 2006 (for girls) and 2009 (for boys). But they are still lower than the government's Healthy People 2020 goal, the study found. That goal called for 80% of girls and boys to get at least two HPV doses by age 15.
By 2017, the last year included in the study:
- 57% of the girls studied had received at least one dose of the vaccine by age 15.
- 46% of girls had received two doses.
- 51% of the boys studied had received at least one dose of the vaccine by age 15.
- 39% of boys had received two doses.
HPV vaccines work best when kids get them as preteens. But it's not too late for older kids to catch up. And kids who get the HPV vaccine before age 15 need just two doses for full protection, instead of three.
Talk to your child's doctor about getting the HPV vaccine today. And visit our Cervical Cancer health topic center for answers to more of your questions about this important vaccine.