HPV Vaccine Is Effective and Safe

[David Baxter PhD]

Final Analysis Shows HPV Vaccine Is Effective and Safe
Roxanne Nelson, Medscape Medical News
July 8, 2009

The final results of a large phase 3 trial have confirmed that a bivalent vaccine is highly effective at protecting against human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18.

...more

 

[Banned]

First I'll admit I didn't read the whole article...

How long does it typically take to "decide" if a drug is safe or not? This is a relatively new vaccine, only a few years old...but I imagine they did several years of drug trials before releasing it to the public.

Is there a specific amount of time that must pass before a drug can be released? ie. in five years they say it's safe with these side effects...anything that happens after that does not get related to the drug?

I don't know how much sense this is making...but if someone can read my mind, and/or my question, I'd be interested in the response.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

No, it's not that they stop monitoring adverse effects or effectiveness. But there are always concerns about vaccines, in particular. Does it actually prevent one from getting the disease (i.e., does it work)? What are the potential risks for side effects? Is the risk of catching the disease high enough and/or the consequences of catching the disease severe enough that these factors are greater than any risks of taking the vaccine or medication?

It is always a cost-benefits analysis.

For example, the risk of an adverse reaction to the smallpox vaccine was extremely low. But a few years back, smallpox had been virtually eradicated from the planet, so at that point the irsk of catching the disease had actually fallen to a point where it was even lower than the small risk for an adverse reaction. At that point, they stopped vaccinating people for smallpox in most parts of the world.

What this study shows is that the vaccine for HPV is effective in poreventing HPV. Since the potential effects of acquiring the HPV virus are severe (e.g., cervical cancer), and the risks of adverse reactions from the vaccine are low, based on a cost-benefits analysis it makes sense to recommend vaccination of all young women.

If further experience with the vaccine produces any data at all that contradicts the current findings, that recommendation would change (and quickly).