A north Carolina mother says her daughter came home with a flyer explaining how a sexually transmitted disease is contracted.

A new law in North Carolina requires public schools to help educate parents on human papillomavirus - or HPV. But 10-year-old Erica Cuellar got the flyer at her elementary school. She was one of about 100 students at D.F. Walker Elementary who took the information to her parents. Her mom Barbara was shocked by what was in her child’s backpack.

“It talks about things kids in high school probably should see. It’s words I can’t even say (on television),” Barbara explained.

Granted, 10 is a bit young, but seriously, I’m sure the words that were on the paper weren’t any the kiddos could have figured out anyway.

With the average age of teens having their first sexual encounter being twelve, I’d say that it’s right on course for getting the information out there.

My own kids were saying the names of STD’s at the age of 7. I’ve explained many things to them in a way they could understand. Granted, I left out all the parts detailing sex and intercourse, but still, they became familiar with the names of the diseases just the same.

At least when they are faced with such issues as discussing these topics, they won’t be afraid of the words, thereby making them more comfortable with the discussion.

The point parents need to realize here is IF you don’t teach your kids, someone else will! Would you rather it be the school? Or would you rather it be the kid in their class that’s the walking poster child for sexually transmitted diseases?

Tags: sexually transmitted diseases, teens, tweens

source

HPV vaccines can’t clear the sexually transmitted virus from the bodies of women already infected with cervical-cancer-causing HPV strains.

There are many types of HPV (human papillomavirus). Some types cause cervical cancer, some cause genital warts. Not every infection results in disease, as the immune system usually fights off the virus.

That’s why the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends HPV vaccination for all girls before they become sexually active. But can HPV vaccination help HPV-infected women clear the virus?

No, shows a U.S./Costa Rica study led by Allan Hildesheim, PhD, a senior investigator at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

“We found there was no difference in the rate of HPV clearance whether or not women got the vaccine,” Hildesheim tells WebMD. “So there is no evidence this vaccine treats established infections.”

The FDA has approved Merck’s Gardasil HPV vaccine. Gardasil prevents infection from four HPV strains: two linked to cervical cancer and two linked to genital warts. Another HPV vaccine, Cervarix from GlaxoSmithKline, protects against the same two cancer-linked HPV strains. Cervarix is approved in Australia; U.S. approval is expected next year.

While the Hildesheim study is testing Cervarix, Hildesheim says Gardasil studies have also shown that the vaccine cannot speed viral clearance in women who already have HPV infection.

Future Vaccine Benefit for HPV-Infected Women?

It is not yet known whether vaccination of already-infected women can prevent future HPV infections.

Viral clearance means that researchers can no longer detect viral DNA in a person’s blood. It may not mean that the virus is completely eliminated from the body, says William Bonnez, MD, associate professor of medicine at the University of Rochester, N.Y. Bonnez, one of the inventors of HPV vaccines, receives royalties from both GlaxoSmithKline and Merck. He was not involved in the Hildesheim study.

“HPV vaccination does not affect present HPV infection, but it may prevent future HPV infections and diseases, regardless of what the present [infection] status is,” Bonnez tells WebMD. “In other words, you do not vaccinate for the present, but you do it for the future.”

Bonnez says there is evidence — not proof — that HPV vaccines can prevent future HPV disease in women who have cleared their HPV infections but who still have anti-HPV antibodies in their blood.

Hildesheim says such women may not need vaccination at all.

“Probably a woman who clears infection by herself will be protected from new infection,” he says. “They have proven they can clear the infection without need of a vaccine. So vaccinating these women may not be warranted. But there is not data to prove or disprove this.”

Regardless of whether this is the case, both Hildesheim and Bonnez stress that HPV vaccination is far more effective if given to girls before they become sexually active women.

“This study reinforces the notion that the HPV vaccine should really target women prior to sexual debut,” Hildesheim says. “We know infection happens shortly after sexual initiation. So to vaccinate young women before they initiate sexual activity is the best policy.”

“The biggest bang for the buck is before initiation of sexual activity,” says Bonnez. “That is when the vaccine provides the greatest benefit.”

The Hildesheim study appears in the Aug. 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Most people are against requiring schoolgirls to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted disease that causes cervical cancer, according to a national survey conducted by a university in Pennsylvania.

The vaccine, Gardasil, protects against the human papillomavirus, known as HPV. It was approved by the federal government in 2006.

At least 41 states have introduced legislation that would require the vaccine for girls or would fund vaccinations or education programs, said the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communications, which conducted the survey.

Texas received national attention this year when it required schoolgirls to get vaccinations.

In Pennsylvania, Gov. Ed Rendell has said he wants to evaluate the drug’s effectiveness, safety and public acceptance before deciding if it should be required.

Nearly half of the participants in the Annenberg survey opposed mandatory vaccinations. About 16 percent supported it, and about 35 percent were neutral.

A majority of respondents supported the concept of doctors recommending the vaccine to eligible people, that the government should pay for the vaccine for people with no insurance, and that health insurers should be required to cover vaccinations.

HPV, which is spread through sexual contact, is considered the main cause of cervical cancer, which about strikes about 10,000 women annually in the U.S.

A panel of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the vaccine for girls who are 11 and 12 and catch-up vaccinations for women up to age 26.

source