There is a vaccine that can help prevent cancer caused by HPV.

January is Cervical Health Awareness Month and some strains of HPV, the human papillomavirus, can lead to cervical cancer, or other cancers for both men and women. Washington County Public Health Nurse Lynn Fisher explains it is spread through sexual contact, “Many people don’t know they have it and for many people their body clears it and it’s not an issue for them. But for some people it will become an issue years later, they will be then more susceptible to cervical cancer.”

She explains a vaccine was developed and was introduced in 2006. It protects against the nine main strains that lead to cancer. Fisher says it is recommended at age 11, “Boys and girls, males and females both should get the vaccine. It is licensed at nine years old, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) schedule begins at 11 years old. And we used to give three vaccines, it was a series of three. Then in 2016 CDC was following the research and it showed the younger teens only needed two vaccines. It was the older teens, those that are 15 and over, that didn’t build quite as good of an immune response and so they now get three vaccines and the younger teens are only getting two.” The vaccine is recommended for women through age 26 and for men through age 21.

For more information about HPV and the vaccine listen to the Washington Page with Fisher.