Fewer precancerous lesions are being found in young women undergoing cervical cancer screenings thanks to the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
Rates of precancerous lesions in women between the ages of 20 and 24 dropped by roughly 80 percent from 2008 to 2022, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
About 10,800 cases of cervical cancer occur in the U.S. every year with most of them stemming from an infection from the human papillomavirus.
The first ever HPV vaccine — Gardasil — was put on the market in 2006. Increasing vaccination rates have since worked to steadily knock down cases of the disease along with increased screening efforts.
“Observed declines in cervical precancers are consistent with HPV vaccination impact and support Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations to vaccinate children against HPV at age 11–12 years with catch-up through age 26 years,” the CDC report reads.
Data shows the rate of precancerous lesions fell by 37 percent among women 25 to 29 those years as well.
The new data comes weeks after prominent vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services.
Kennedy once called the HPV vaccine dangerous and was instrumental in organizing litigation against the vaccine’s manufacturer Merck.
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the U.S. with about 85 percent of sexually active adults contracting it at some point in their life, according to the CDC.
The CDC recommends that children aged 11 and 12 get the HPV vaccine to protect them against cancer-causing strands of the virus before they become sexually active.
It also recommends that adults ages 18 and 26 get the vaccine if they did not receive it in childhood since the vaccine offers adults older than this less protection.
In the report, the CDC noted there are limitations to the data but that it is still “consistent with considerable impact” of the HPV vaccine for preventing cervical precancer among women in the age group most likely to be vaccinated.
The findings also support the agency’s existing recommendations to vaccinate children at “the routinely recommended ages as a cancer prevention measure.”
