Parents of teenage girls in Newry reminded of importance of HPV vaccine | Latest Newry News, Newry Sport and Newry Business for Newry City

Parents of teenage girls in Newry reminded of importance of HPV vaccine

Parents and guardians of teenage girls are being reminded of the importance of girls receiving the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide but the HPV vaccine can help protect against it, reducing the risk of getting cervical cancer by over 70%.

 

 

The vaccine is offered to girls in year 9, with a chance to catch up on any missed doses in year 10. Letters are being sent to parents and guardians of girls who are eligible, with information on how they can receive it this school term.

All girls who have their first dose before the age of 15 only need two doses in total, at least six months apart.

It is estimated that the level of protection offered by the vaccine will last for at least 10 years.

 

 

Though uptake of the vaccine has fallen slightly recently, it is relatively high in Northern Ireland, but there are still girls who are not benefitting from this free, simple opportunity to do something which could save their life.

Dr Lucy Jessop, Consultant in Health Protection at the PHA, said, “Cervical cancer can kill so we are fortunate to be able to offer teenage girls the HPV vaccine to help protect against it. I would urge all parents or guardians to talk to their daughters about the importance of getting the vaccine and ensure that all eligible girls complete the course of vaccines when offered in school this term.

 

 

“Even though the vaccine has only been available in the UK for nine years, it is very encouraging that decreases in pre-cancerous lesions in the cervix and in genital warts have already been seen.”

Each year around 95 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in Northern Ireland with an average of 22 women dying from the disease.

In addition, 1,225 cases of cervical cancer in situ are diagnosed each year. This is where some cells of the cervix have pre-cancerous changes, which could lead to cancer if not treated.

 

 

Persistent infection by high-risk HPV types is detectable in more than 99% of cancers. Of these high risks types, HPV 16 and HPV 18, which the vaccine can protect against, are together responsible for 75% of all cervical cancer types in Europe.

If parents have any questions about the vaccine, they can find more information on the PHA website www.pha.site/hpv or they can contact their school nurse directly.

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Posted by on Oct 11 2017. Filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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