The Department of Health of the Generalitat announced this Monday that starting next year, children aged 11 and 12 will be able to access the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine (which will not be compulsory), an immunogen that since 2008 has been administered only to girls of this age. María Méndez, head of the Can Ruti pediatric service, explains the reasons for this decision:
What is HPV?
It is a very prevalent virus that lives in the genitals of the population and that a large part of adult women and men have. However, it only causes precancerous lesions or cancer in a small part of the population.
What consequences can it cause?
It produces lesions especially in the genital or oropharyngeal mucosa, ranging from warts to cancerous lesions. It is known to cause up to 99% of cervical cancer cases.
Other pathologies.
Not only in the cervix, it is also responsible, as a result of sexual practices, for many cancers of the head and neck, oral cavity, tongue, larynx, oropharynx, penis or anus. Hence the change in the expansion of vaccination coverage.
What effect can it have on men?
Currently, 25% of cancers caused by this virus occur in men.
Why is the vaccine given to 11 and 12 year olds?
What is important is that it is administered before the person begins to have sexual intercourse. Since the age at which sexual practices begin is highly variable (there are 20% of adolescents who begin them before the age of 14), it is appropriate to set it between 11 and 12 years of age. In addition, it is an age in which other vaccines are already administered and it is very easy to link this segment of the population to the CAP, or to vaccination at school. With this formula, the percentage of vaccination is higher.
Risks of putting it later.
If vaccination is delayed, there is a risk that some adolescents have already started having sexual relations, and then protection would no longer be as important. In addition, it is possible that vaccination coverage was lower: 14-year-olds go to health centers less than those of 11 or 12. The older, the lower the vaccination coverage.
How many doses does it consist of?
There are two doses six months apart from each other, although it is feasible to administer the second puncture between six and twelve months. It will be included in the vaccination calendar and will be administered completely free of charge in health centers.
What vaccination coverage have the girls had so far?
Very high. In Catalonia, the percentage of girls who were vaccinated during the 2020-2021 academic year was 85%.
Will they administer it in all the communities?
The inclusion in Catalonia of this vaccine for boys is a pioneering measure in Spain. It is already carried out in other European countries such as Austria, Germany, Belgium, Croatia, France, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Liechtenstein, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Sweden and Switzerland.
It is effective?
It is a vaccine that has shown very good efficacy and that protects a high percentage of being able to develop cancer.
When can the disease arise?
When one is infected with this virus, it does not immediately produce cancer (in case it ends up generating it), but it can appear over the years. In other words, the full effect of the vaccine will not be seen for several more years. But a significant reduction in precancerous lesions, such as warts, has already been seen. The number of cancers that will be reduced will probably be very high. The cancers that are being diagnosed now are from women who have not yet been vaccinated.
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