We need to do all that we can to decrease the rates of cervical cancer in the US. This means HPV vaccines. If taking one or two shots can decease your risk of cervical cancer, why wouldn’t you do that?
From LAT:
Rates of cervical cancer vary substantially from state to state, and health experts hoped that the HPV vaccine would help even them out. But new research shows that hasn’t happened – at least not so far.
As of 2012, some of the states with the highest incidence of cervical cancer also did the worst job of vaccinating girls against human papillomavirus, the virus that can lead to cervical cancer, according to a study presented Tuesday at a health disparities conference organized by the American Assn. for Cancer Research.
For instance, the incidence of cervical cancer in Arkansas was 10.2 cases per 100,000 women, while only 41% of girls in the state began the three-shot regimen for the HPV vaccine. In Florida, there were 9.4 cervical cancer cases per 100,000 women and only 39% of girls started taking the vaccine. Mississippi had 9.6 cases per 100,000 women and only 40% vaccine uptake.
On the flip side, 69% of girls in Massachusetts got at least one HPV shot and only 6 women out of 100,000 developed cervical cancer, the third-lowest incidence among all the states and the District of Columbia. (more…)