Thanks to vaccination, the main viruses of cervical cancer have almost disappeared in Denmark
Thanks to vaccination, the main viruses of cervical cancer have almost disappeared in Denmark
The human papillomavirus vaccine has been shown to be fully effective in preventing viral infections in Denmark. In fact, infection with this virus is directly related to the risk of developing cervical cancer; and this cancer is one of the main causes of death among young women.
The human papillomavirus has many variants, of which 14 are the most dangerous, especially 16 and 18. In Denmark, vaccination of 13-15 year olds with a vaccine against four subtypes began in 2008: 6, 11, 16 and 18. In 2017, seven other variants were added to the vaccine. Objective: to protect the new generations from 90% of the viruses that cause cervical cancer. It has now been observed that vaccination has been extremely effective: when the vaccination was started, 15% of the women had the infection of variant 16 and 17% of the 18; now this percentage is less than 1% in both.
The study, published in the journal Eurosurveillance, highlights that the decrease has also been observed in women who did not receive the vaccine. That is, thanks to the incorporation of the majority, group immunity has been achieved. On the other hand, in those who received the first vaccine, the infections of the other variants increased. It is explained that the replacement of the type has taken place: with the disappearance of some variants, others have taken their place. However, it is believed that later more complete vaccines will allow others to disappear as well.
According to the researchers, the Danish experience shows that the situation of a disease can be completely changed through a strict immunization policy.
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