HPV vaccine won't make girls promiscuous, study finds

CHICAGO Shots that protect against cervical cancer do not make girls promiscuous, according to the first study to compare medical records for vaccinated and unvaccinated girls.

The researchers didn't ask girls about having sex, but instead looked at "markers" of sexual activity after vaccination against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, or HPV. Specifically, they examined up to three years of records on whether girls had sought birth control advice; tests for sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy; or had become pregnant.

Very few of the girls who got the shots at age 11 or 12 had done any of those over the next three years, or by the time they were 14 or 15. Moreover, the study found no difference in rates of those markers compared with unvaccinated girls.

Play Video

HPV vaccine found to be safe in new study

The study involved nearly 1,400 girls enrolled in a Kaiser Permanente health plan in Atlanta. Results were published online Monday in Pediatrics.

Whether vaccination has any influence on similar markers of sexual activity in older teens wasn't examined in this study, but other research has suggested it doesn't.

The study is the first to use medical outcomes data to examine consequences of HPV vaccination and the results are "comforting and reassuring," said lead author Robert Bednarczyk, a researcher at Kaiser and Emory University. Both institutions paid for the study.

HPV is the leading cause of cervical cancer and also has been linked with anal and oral cancers in women and men.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend HPV shots for girls and boys at age 11 or 12, before they have ever had sex. Three doses are generally recommended over six months.

Some parents have raised concerns that the shots "are a license to have sex," but the study bolsters evidence against that concern, said Dr. Elizabeth Alderman, an adolescent medicine specialist at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York City. She was not involved in the study.

• Controversial HPV vaccine even protects unvaccinated women, study suggests
• Study: 16% of cancers worldwide caused by preventable infections such as HPV
• HPV vaccine now recommended for all boys, CDC says

A CDC study published in January suggested that the shots don't promote sexual activity among older girls, but it relied on self-reporting, at ages 15 to 24. That's a less reliable method than the new study, Alderman said. She has been a paid speaker for Merck & Co., which makes one of the two HPV vaccines sold in the United States, but said she has no current financial ties to the company.

In the new study, at least 90 percent of vaccinated and unvaccinated girls did not seek pregnancy tests, chlamydia tests or birth control counseling, markers that were considered surrogates for sexual activity during up to three years of follow-up. Two in each group became pregnant. Chlamydia, a common sexually transmitted disease, was diagnosed in one vaccinated girl and three unvaccinated girls.

Three of the study's four co-authors reported having done previous research funded by Merck.

[KPeters_from_UK]

LILLYHORTON says:I think we should all agree to disagree. The comment about me not knowing exactly what HPV was is correct however I know condoms are effective as well as few sex partners. I can only imagine that some parents are more concerned for their daughters due to her active multiple partner sex experiences. Some people really don't have casual sex. I being one of those people. My relationships have been good. I can count them on one hand unlike many of you who advocate the shot. With that said we as parents have the right to determine whether the shot is right for their daughters rather than the government who assumes all females are wide open.

-------------------------------------------
I noticed a few errors in your post:

You are lucky. Even if you only had one sexual partner you could be at risk. Your post suggests that anyone who has had one more partner than you did is promiscuous. Also a person can get HPV not just from intercourse...there are other sexual activities sweetheart. Please note that I wrote persons and not girls.

[Cru09]

...we had to test this?

[Cpr7850]

Funny how all of these opinions are from folks that do not seems to be those that could possibly make use of the vaccine. As such, you do not have any credibility on EITHER SIDE OF THIS ISSUE! I suggest you talk to your children or grandchildren to help them.

[badgrammr]

Next time try tequila shots..

[rwsmith29456]

I think that immediately upon getting the vaccine girls would be ready to put out. "You got a date with Cindy tonight??" "Yeah, and she got her HPV vaccine today!"

[ubiquitousnewt]

The idea was idiotic to begin with, and only a judgmental religious fundamentalist could have conceived of it. Comparatively, HPV is one of the lesser STD evils - AIDS and unwanted children have it far outclassed. the HPV vaccine doesn't protect you from those, obviously; if you're smart enough to understand you GOT the HPV vaccine, you're smart enough to realize that it doesn't protect you from most STDs.

...we're going to have to have this moronic debate again if there's every an AIDS vaccine, aren't we? HIV is god's gift to sexually repressive neanderthals.

[Cpr7850]

The story was a nice bit of information. Your specious remarks depict a partisan bigotry of someone that clearly needs help. Find a hobby and stop polluting reasonable news stories with your demented and revolting delusions. :)

[joe_smith_45]

"Some parents have raised concerns that the shots "are a license to have sex,"

the sad thing is we as people are suppose to give credence to trash journalism like this. Seriously if respected news papers are going to peddle every two bit theory an uneducated and ill informed parent thinks of everyday, we would have a newspaper 150 pages long. What next do cheerios make you have an erection?

seriously? since when do parents becomes experts in cancer immunology??? and can raise debates as mundane as causing women to be "promiscuous" might as well have burned the money, what a waste of valuable research dollars to think there are scientists today needing funding for research that actually is science!

sorry cbs you wonder on the decline of the news paper industry and the growth of "alternative" sources of news here is why!

[ubiquitousnewt]

The idea was idiotic to begin with, and only a judgmental religious fundamentalist could have conceived of it. Comparatively, HPV is one of the lesser STD evils - AIDS and unwanted children have it far outclassed. the HPV vaccine doesn't protect you from those, obviously; if you're smart enough to understand you GOT the HPV vaccine, you're smart enough to realize that it doesn't protect you from most STDs.

...we're going to have to have this moronic debate again if there's every an AIDS vaccine, aren't we? HIV is god's gift to sexually repressive neanderthals.

[ubiquitousnewt]

I R doubleposter!1!

[ubiquitousnewt]

I R doubleposter!1!

[Ericwvb]

Apparently this is how fundies think 12 year old girls think:

Doctor: "I'm going to give you a HPV vaccine which will reduce the likelihood that you will get cervical cancer 20-30 years from now due to sexual contact with men."

12 year old girl: "Really? I am so going to do bang every guy I see now!"

The actual sad thing here is that in 2012, we actually have to run these studies.

[lillyhorton]

I think we should all agree to disagree. The comment about me not knowing exactly what HPV was is correct however I know condoms are effective as well as few sex partners. I can only imagine that some parents are more concerned for their daughters due to her active multiple partner sex experiences. Some people really don't have casual sex. I being one of those people. My relationships have been good. I can count them on one hand unlike many of you who advocate the shot. With that said we as parents have the right to determine whether the shot is right for their daughters rather than the government who assumes all females are wide open.

[inverse137]

Let's agree you don't know what you are talking about and that you are trying not to look like an idiot.

Let's also agree that you have failed.

Let's agree you have sexual hang-ups and are projecting them in some weird distorted way.

Let's get some facts:

If you have sex statistics say you will be exposed to HPV. PERIOD.

If you get vaccinated against HPV a woman's risk of developing cervical cancer drops SIGNIFICANTLY.

Are there any words in the above statement you do not understand?

[inverse137]

Let's agree you don't know what you are talking about and that you are trying not to look like an idiot.

Let's also agree that you have failed.

Let's agree you have sexual hang-ups and are projecting them in some weird distorted way.

Let's get some facts:

If you have sex statistics say you will be exposed to HPV. PERIOD.

If you get vaccinated against HPV a woman's risk of developing cervical cancer drops SIGNIFICANTLY.

Are there any words in the above statement you do not understand?

[JJVachon]

I doubt that young girls ever postponed becoming sexually active because of the fear of HPV! Could youy imagine a 15 year old girl saying, "whew! Now that the threat of HPV is gone I can engage in sex!"