More HPV vaccinations could prevent cancer in 1,300 Californians

FINDINGSBased on a 2017 rate of vaccination against HPV among a group of California 20-year-olds, researchers estimate that this group is at risk for an excess of 1,352 cases of cancer that could be prevented with a 99.5% vaccination rate. Treatment for these preventable cancers would cost the health care system $52.2 million. The size of the group was 296,525 people, the approximate number of 20-year-olds in California in 2017.BACKGROUNDHuman papillomavirus, or HPV, is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States and is linked to seven types of cancer: cervical, vaginal, vulvar, penile, rectal, anal and oropharyngeal, or throat. There are more than 150 types of HPV, and an estimated 80% to 90% of sexually active people will be infected with one of those types during their lifetime. Short-term HPV infections are common, particularly in sexually active young people, and usually clear up on their own. Infections that persist for several years pose a cancer risk. HPV-related cancers can take 10 to 30 years to develop.METHODThe researchers estimated the number of HPV-related cancer cases and associated medical costs among all California ’s 20-year-olds. Using vaccine coverage rates from 2017 (60.9% for adolescent girls, 46.3% for adolescent boys), they estimated the lifetime number of cancer cases caused by vaccine-preventable HPV strains among this group. They also estimated the excess cancer cases that would occur based on the 2017 vaccination rate comp...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news