So - will adults be able to get this vaccine? And, how do you know if you've already been exposed?

At your annual exam (assuming you are a woman), a pap smear is done to test for cancercous or pre-cancerous cells in the cervix. There is also a separate test for HPV, but it's not always done during annual exams.

Yesssssssssss!

Most pap tests now include the Digene test that looks for the genetic markers of several HPV strains. Prior to this test's availability and the discovery that HPV causes cervical cancer several years ago, the only indication and basis for diagnosis that a woman had HPV was symptoms such as visible warts.

Most pap tests now include the Digene test that looks for the genetic markers of several HPV strains. Prior to this test's availability and the discovery that HPV causes cervical cancer several years ago, the only indication and basis for diagnosis that a woman had HPV was symptoms such as visible warts.

I remember something about how HPV - human papilloma virus - is what causes genital warts. The warts also an obvious symptom, not to mention a problem in and of themselves.

Once infected, there has heretofore been no cure. Hooray for the vaccine! My cervix will do a happy dance.

I've snipped a few pertinent paragraphs from the announcement off the AP wire:

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved use of the vaccine, Gardasil, for use in girls and women ages 9 to 26. It works by preventing infection by four strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV, the most prevalent sexually transmitted disease.

Gardasil, manufactured by Merck & Co. Inc., protects against the two types of HPV responsible for about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases. The vaccine also blocks infection by two other strains responsible for 90 percent of genital wart cases.

The target age for receiving Gardasil is low because the vaccine works best when given to girls before they begin having sex and run the risk of HPV infection. The vaccine may not protect people already infected and may increase their risk of the kind of lesions that can lead to cervical cancer, the FDA has said.

I am also very pleased about the vaccine. That being said, I am not surprised at the news, and I am not going to go out and scream from the rooftops. I would, however, be surprised if the government agency put in place, and funded by our tax dollars would allow itself to be overrun by a fundamentalist minority that uses WWJD? as it's primary decision making process. If the FDA chose one extremist point of veiw in leu of the safety of hundreds of millions of citizens, that is when I would start screaming- not when it simply does its job.

I agree with the other LW stating we shouldn't be joyous that the government chose to act based on medical science instead of religious pandering. This is how our country is supposed to be run!

I just found out on tuesday that I have to have my third colposcopy (biopsy of the cervix) in 5 years due to a bad pap. The first one showed pre-cancerous cells so advanced in just one years time that had I been a smoker, my doctor told me she would've been giving me a hysterectomy instead of the LEEP I got (basically like an apple peeler on your cervix to scrape away all the bad cells). Smoking decreases your immunity and I probably would've had full blown cervical cancer instead.

The second biopsy 2 years ago came back inconclusive so no further procedures were done. Hopefully that will be the case again this time although I am increasingly getting worried since I haven't had children yet and might like to one day.

If any parent refuses giving this vaccine to their pre-teen daughter they should be thought of as child abusers.

I think boys should be included as well since it would make sense to have less carriers out there for any older women they get involved with later in life or daughters of religious fundies who weren't allowed to get the vaccine before they became sexually active. Really makes no sense not to treat young boys as well just because they won't get cervical cancer. Wouldn't it be better to approach this as an eradication vaccine like smallpox?

As for some of the questions out there, just because you may have had warts at one time doesn't mean you were exposed to the cancer causing strain. And many women don't get warts, or can't see them if they are inside their vagina, so not having had warts doesn't mean you weren't exposed to the cancer causing strains at some point either. Its better just to go for your yearly pap.

about this. So, yes, good news, but both the doubt and our collective reaction says much, none of it good, about the state of our nation - and not just the political leaders (or whatever you want to call them).

From another angle, it's about time. I went to grad school with Laura Koutsky, early to mid 80s - we even had adjacent carrels. The association of HPV with cervical cancer was her PhD thesis and has been a large part of her career since. She was primarily responsible for getting this out there as a causal association; perhaps as much as Sir Richard Doll with lung cancer and cigarettes. I'd like to see her get some sort of major recognition sometime, but epidemiologists never seem to get nominated for Nobels.

The strains that cause cervical cancer do not cause warts, and vice versa. The strains that cause cancer are asymptomatic.

"Cervical cancer vaccine debated: Legal requirement or parental choice against STD virus?"

"The vaccine has not been approved for use in men and boys because Merck did not focus on them in clinical trials."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/09/CERVICAL.TMP&type=health

Since HPV can be spread by almost all sexual contact and without intercourse, people should be broad in their definition of "sexually active".