Shots that protect girls against cervical cancer do not make them promiscuous, according to a recent study at the Kaiser Permanente health plan in Atlanta.
The study was the first of its kind to compare the medical records of vaccinated and unvaccinated girls with “markers” of sexual activity. The shots are a vaccination against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, or HPV
Researchers looked at three years of records on whether girls looked for birth control advice, tested for sexually transmitted diseases or became pregnant. The study found no difference in marker rates of unvaccinated girls, but few patients who received the same shots at age 11 or 12 asked for advice, tested for diseases or became pregnant over the next three years, according to a recent article in Fox News Latino.
Robert Bednarczyk, a researcher at Kaiser and Emory University, said the results were “comforting and reassuring.”
HPV is the leading cause of cervical cancer and is linked to anal and oral cancers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as the American Academy of Pediatrics, suggest HPV shots for girls and boys at age 11 or 12, before they have sex. A CDC study in January showed shots do not promote sexual activity among girls between the ages of 15 to 24.
