Q: Since Virginia in 2008 began requiring girls entering sixth grade to get the first of three doses of the human papillomavirus vaccine, what are the vaccination rates like?
A: There are two HPV vaccines approved for use in the United States — Gardasil and Cervarix. They prevent infection with certain types of human papillomaviruses that can cause cervical cancer, genital warts and some other conditions.
HPV is spread by sexual contact, so the vaccine is most effective if given to girls before they become sexually active. The vaccines are controversial because some worry about the messages being sent. Others point out that HPV often clears from the body without any intervention so a vaccine may not help that much.
Among girls age 13-17 in Virginia in 2009, about 37 percent had at least one dose of the HPV vaccine, according to federal immunization survey data.
That's lower than the national average of 44 percent of girls in that age range having at least one dose of an HPV vaccine. Massachusetts and Rhode Island had the highest HPV vaccination rates — 69 percent and 68 percent. Mississippi, at 23 percent, had the lowest vaccination rate.
The Virginia law lets parents opt not to have their daughters vaccinated against HPV.
In the United States in 2010, there were an estimated 12,200 new cases of cervical cancer identified, according to the National Cancer Institute. An estimated 4,210 women died of cervical cancer in 2010. The median age at diagnosis is 48, meaning half of women are older and half are younger.
Dr. Cecelia H. Boardman, a gynecologic oncologist who treats cancers of the female reproductive organs, said she has had patients in their 20s develop cervical cancer.
"Cervical cancer is a preventable cancer," said Boardman, who has done speaking engagements on behalf of Merck's Gardasil vaccine.
She also urged women to get regular Pap smears, a screening test that looks for changes in the cervix that could turn into cancer, she said.
"Get your Pap smear every year," said Boardman, of Virginia Commonwealth University's Massey Cancer Center. She talked about ovarian, uterine or endometrial, and cervical cancers at a free seminar recently at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.
"If we find a precancerous change, we can treat it," Boardman said.
Sandra Sommer, of the Virginia Department of Health's immunization division, said the Health Department provides educational materials on HPV vaccination to schools for distribution to parents of rising sixth-grade girls.
That information is also available on the Health Department website, Sommer said.
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