Who should get vaccinated and why?
Vaccination has been approved for use in Canada for girls and women aged 9 to 45 and young men aged 9 to 26.
Why vaccinate?
HPV spreads easily. You might have the virus without knowing that you do. Often people have HPV with no signs or symptoms. In fact, you could have one of the really dangerous types of HPV and not even know it.
Reports in Canada show that 8 out of 10 Canadians will have at least one HPV infection in their lives. It could happen to you. While most of these infections will go away on their own, some may not. If HPV is not found and not treated, it can become a serious infection or something worse.
If you don’t know that you have HPV, certain types of the virus could develop into cancer of the cervix, vagina, vulva or anus. After breast cancer, cancer of the cervix is the second most common cancer in Canadian women aged 20 to 44. As many as 1,400 women in Canada are diagnosed with cancer of the cervix each year. More than 400 die from it.
About 220 Canadian women die from cancer of the vulva or cancer of the vagina each year. In fact, Canada has one of the highest rates of cancer of the vulva in the world.
Why is it recommended for such young girls?
Research tells us that vaccination provides the best levels of protection (antibodies) in girls between the ages of 9 and 13. Since vaccination was developed to prevent HPV, not to treat it, scientists say that it will work best before a person becomes sexually active.
What if I’m already sexually active?
Females aged 14 to 26 will also benefit from vaccination, even when they are already sexually active, since it is unlikely that they will have been infected with all the HPV types covered by vaccination.
The SOGC recommends that girls and women aged 14 to 26 get vaccinated even if they have had:
- Pap tests that show abnormal cells
- genital warts, or
- any HPV infection.
Who should not be vaccinated?
- Women who are pregnant or breast feeding
- Women with certain blood conditions
- Women with an immune disorder or certain medical problems.
Your doctor or a health-care professional can tell you whether vaccination is right and safe for you, if these conditions apply.
