Pixies Place Forums - View Single Post - Study: HPV Vaccine Does Little to Treat Pre-Existing Infections

I read the study went it was printed about 10 days ago. (an advantage of the night shift, lots of Docs leave JAMA and such around for us to read)
If it deals with STDs and women, I will read it.

This was a very limited study, and I am a little troubled why they pin so much value on such a small group. (less than 2200 women total, and only half received the vaccine, the other half received a Hepatitis A vaccine as a control, and were monitored for only a year)
After a year the clearance was more or less the same in both groups, almost 50%.
But what about women with other complications, such as HIV? What about women who received nothing, say saline, instead of one of the immunization? This is important, because both vaccines stimulate the immune systoms against viruses. Yes, different viruses, but the control was lacking.
All this study proved that in healthy women with HPV infections, the clearance rate was the same no matter if you gave them HAV vaccine or HPV vaccine. In this small group of women. In Costa Rica.

(Lots of these kind of studies are done there because they have an unusually good public health system, and the HPV infections rate is so high.)
So, BASED ON CURRENT KNOWLEDGE, don't count on this to clear an existing infection.

But the end conclusion is still waiting...

(Damn, I knew this would happen if I finished my MSN)

WW