Who should be vaccinated against HPV?
- There are currently 2 HPV vaccines available in South Africa:
• A quadrivalent vaccine, which is indicated for girls and women 9 to 45 years , and for boys and men 9 to 26 years of age. 2, 18
• A bivalent vaccine, which is indicated for girls and women from 9 years of age.22 - Genital warts and genital lesions have shown to be greatly reduced in young women who were vaccinated early with the HPV vaccine.19, 20
- National population vaccination programmes have demonstrated that abnormal pap smears have been reduced in just a few years after the start of the vaccination programme with the HPV vaccine.15, 20, 21
- Although screening programmes in boys and men are lacking, it is known that both can get infected with HPV and can transmit the virus.9, 11, 14, 15
- Genital warts are the most common HPV related disease in boys and men.9, 11, 14, 15
- HPV has been linked to anal, and penile cancers in men.9, 11, 14, 15
- Studies have shown that even for those women who have had HPV disease, vaccination does reduce recurrence of HPV diseases.25
- Best protective results for vaccination are however seen in those who have not yet had contact with the virus15, 34.