The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences
Abstract
The HPV virus is said to be the cause of many infections, warts, and cancers. In addition to the fact that the treatment for HPV is not always successful, not every individual knows that s/he is infected and is very likely to infect his or her partner, too. This is one factor that explains why 14 million people each year in America alone contract HPV and makes cervical cancer so threatening to many people worldwide. In light of this and the known dangers of cervical, anal, vaginal and penile cancers, the HPV vaccine was created to prevent an infection of HPV from developing into a cancer. Within the past decade, two vaccines, Gardasil, manufactured by Merck, and Cervarix, manufactured by GSK, have been produced to help prevent 70 percent of the Human Papillomavirus strains in order to reduce the chances of contracting the various cancers and infections that are connected to HPV. (However, since the idea of cancer vaccines is so new to the health world, questions and wariness remain: Are Gardasil and Cervarix effective? Are they safe and not counterproductive? Should everybody in the age bracket of 10 until 25 be vaccinated? If so, because it is unusual for there to be two vaccines targeting the same goal, which company’s make is preferred?) Many studies have been conducted on the new HPV vaccines within the past decade. The results are positive and the vaccines seem to get a 100% efficacy rate when administered correctly to the proper population. The difference of the vaccines is noted in their targeted strains. Therefore it is the patient’s choice for which vaccine she would want to be administered.
Recommended Citation
Tessler, G. (2014). The Efficacy and Safety of the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine. The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences, 8(1). Retrieved from https://touroscholar.touro.edu/sjlcas/vol8/iss1/9
