Grade 6 girls to receive HPV vaccine

The provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced last week they will be implementing an HPV vaccination program for Grade 6 female students this fall.

HPV, or human papilloma virus, is a common virus which infects the genital area and lining of the cervix. While there are many types of HPV, around 200 different types to be exact, some are more harmful than others and if left untreated may develop into cancer. Others can develop into warts that the Public Health Agency of Canada says are not harmful.

Dr. Greg Mercer, medical officer of health for Western Health, says around 377 Grade 6 girls in the Western Health coverage area will be eligible to receive the vaccine. Around 125 of these students attend class in Bay St. George. He notes that while these young ladies are eligible to receive the vaccine, the drug is not mandatory.

This is not mandated, he says. Were not doing this as an emergency measure or anything. Its a health protection measure.

The vaccine, Gardasil, was approved for use by Health Canada in July of 2006. The federal government set aside $300 million dollars in the recent federal budget to allocate to provinces so that they may begin vaccinating in their jurisdictions. So far, of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador have announced they will incorporate the vaccination into their schools fall immunization programs.

I think one of the things you might find is all provinces in the country at some point will move forward with it, said Ross Wiseman, provincial minister of health and community services, in a telephone interview with the Georgian last week.

The earlier we can get the program started the earlier it will start having a benefit for those girls who will be covered in the program, he said.



Dr. Mercer says it would be most beneficial to begin vaccinating for HPV before the onset of sexual activity, and that from province to province those statistics may fluctuate.

In this province Grade 6 was felt to be a useful age because it aligned with our provincial immunization program which is carried out through childhood and the schoolyears, he says.

Dr. Mercer says Gardasil is designed to help protect against four types of HPV, two of which he says are associated with 90 per cent of genital warts, and another two are associated with 70 per cent of cervical cancers.

The vaccine will be administered in three doses, as this is what Dr. Mercer says studies have shown to be most effective. After the first dose, he says the recipient will receive another in two months, and the last six months after that.

Dr. Mercer says there are no notable side effects of the vaccine.

Basically as with most vaccines, you can have a slight fever, some pain or redness at the injection site, but aside from that there really isnt anything else of note with it, he says.

Data released by the Department of Health and Community Services says most HPV infections usually go away over time, without treatment, and may not cause health problems. Sometimes the infection will linger, however, and create changes in the cells of the cervix that can progress to cancer. While the department says the HPV vaccine will reduce the risk of cells changing by 70 to 90 per cent, it should not be confused with being a cure or replacement for pap smear tests.

Young girls should not assume, parents should not assume, that as a result of this vaccine that they are now 100 per cent protected against getting cervical cancer, said Minister Wiseman. Its still critical that every single female in this province that is sexually active, regardless of age, should have an annual pap test.

Dr. Mercer agrees, and says a possible negative implication of administering the vaccine is that it might be misleading to believe that it provides ultimate protection against HPV.

I think that would be a false sense of security, he says. We still feel strongly that anybody who had the vaccine would have to continue, just like every other woman who has reached reproductive age, that they get their regular pap smear.