January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and BCH primary care providers
are urging parents to have children, boys and girls ages 11-12, vaccinated
against the human papilloma virus (HPV) -- a virus that causes most kinds
of cervical cancer.
HPV vaccines protect against high-risk types of the virus that cause most
cervical cancers. The HPV vaccination is
cancer prevention.
In 2017, about 12,820 new cases of invasive cervical cancer will be diagnosed,
according to the American Cancer Society. About 4,210 women will die from
cervical cancer. Hispanic women are most likely to get cervical cancer,
followed by African-Americans, American Indians and Alaskan natives, and whites.
HPV vaccines prevent infection by certain types of the virus, but they
work best if they are given before an infection occurs. This is why the
American Cancer Society recommends it for girls and boys ages 11 to 12 – because the vaccines produce
the strongest immune response at this age, and because most children at
this age have not yet become sexually active. This is also an age when
children still will be seeing their doctor regularly and getting other
vaccinations. The vaccines are given in a series of shots. The vaccination
series can be started as early as age 9.
Please call
303-415-4015 to make an appointment with a BCH primary care provider who can vaccinate
your child against HPV.
HPV affects both men and women. Watch this video, from the American Cancer
Society, with more details about the HPV vaccination, and to hear HPV
survivor Frank Summers' story: