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Sep. 25--The first vaccine against cervical cancer is available at some clinics in the La Crosse area, while other clinics wait for guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Franciscan Skemp Healthcare is offering the vaccine, which protects against four strains of the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus that can cause cervical cancer and genital warts. The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Student Health Center has been offering the vaccine for about a month.
Gundersen Lutheran has the vaccine, Merck's Gardasil, but is waiting for CDC-published recommendations, expected by November. In June, federal health officials approved the vaccine for females ages 9 to 26. The officials said it should be routinely given to girls ages 11 and 12, before they become sexually active.
Dr. C.J. Menagh, a Franciscan Skemp pediatrician, said Franciscan Skemp doctors are recommending that patients check to make sure the vaccine is covered by their insurance companies. Francis-can Skemp's HMO, Health Tradition, and several insurance companies are covering the cost of the vaccine, he said.
"There has been a fair amount of interest," Menagh said. "If mothers want the vaccine for their daughters, we have it available now."
Dr. Brian Allen, director of the UW-L Student Health Center, said about a dozen or so students already have received the vaccine, which costs $120 a dose. Three doses are given over a six-month period, he said.
"UW-L students have to pay up front and then bill their insurance companies," Allen said. "You'll see a big demand once more insurance companies cover it and there is more public awareness."
Bridget Pfaff, Gundersen Lutheran infection control specialist, said Gundersen Lutheran physicians don't want to rush and use the vaccine until the CDC publishes its recommendations.
"Many health plans are waiting for the official publication of the recommendations," Pfaff said. "It's a matter of sitting back and waiting for a short period of time.
"We've been getting occasional phone calls, but there's no reason to get on board right away," she said. "It will be offered soon."
The vaccine could help prevent up to 70 percent of the 9,710 cases of cervical cancer and 3,700 deaths from the disease each year in the United States, according to the CDC.
"We could potentially prevent most women from getting cervical cancer," Allen said. "It's as simple as if women don't get the virus, they don't get the cancer."
Studies have found the vaccine to be almost 100 percent effective in preventing diseases caused by the four HPV types covered by the vaccine, including pre-cancers of the cervix, vulva and vagina, and genital warts. The vaccine does not treat existing HPV infections, genital warts, pre-cancers or cancers.
HPV VACCINE STUDY AT UW-L
The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse's Student Health Center was one of 16 sites across the country to study whether the Gardasil vaccine could prevent the transmission of HPV related to cervical cancer. About 50 La Crosse area women ages 17 to 24 were among 16,000 women nationwide in the study.
GlaxoSmithKline is developing another HPV vaccine. UW-L's research department also is involved in the study of the GlaxoSmithKline vaccine. The health center has been trying to recruit women ages 26 and older for the three-year study, which started this summer. For more information, call (608) 785-5132 or visit www.uwlax.edu/studenthealth/research.
Who should get the HPV vaccine?
The HPV vaccine is recommended for 11- to 12-year-old girls, and can be given to girls as young as 9. The vaccine is also recommended for 13- to 26-year-old girls/women who have not yet received or completed the vaccine series.These recommendations have been proposed by the ACIP -- a national group of experts that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine issues. These recommendations are now being considered by CDC.
Why is the HPV vaccine recommended for such young girls?
Ideally, females should get the vaccine before they are sexually active. This is because the vaccine is most effective in girls/women who have not yet acquired any of the four HPV types covered by the vaccine. Girls/women who have not been infected with any of those four HPV types will get the full benefits of the vaccine.
Will sexually active females benefit from the vaccine?
Females who are sexually active may also benefit from the vaccine. But they may get less benefit from the vaccine since they may have already acquired one or more HPV type(s) covered by the vaccine. Few young women are infected with all four of these HPV types. So they would still get protection from those types they have not acquired. Currently, there is no test available to tell if a girl/woman has had any or all of these four HPV types.
Why is the HPV vaccine only recommended for girls/women ages 9 to 26?
The vaccine has been widely tested in 9- to 26- year-old girls/women. But research on the vaccine's safety and efficacy has only recently begun with women older than 26 years of age. The FDA will consider licensing the vaccine for these women when there is research to show that it is safe and effective for them.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Terry Rindfleisch can be reached at trindfleisch@lacrossetribune.com or (608) 791-8227.
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Copyright (c) 2006, La Crosse Tribune, Wis.
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