Analysis indicates that rates of high-grade cervical lesions decreased in young US women after vaccines were made available to protect against human papillomavirus (HPV), but the trend may be due in part to changes in cervical cancer screening recommendations.
CDC/Judy Schmidt; James Gathany
Published in the journal Cancer, the study illustrates some of the challenges in monitoring a vaccine’s impact during a time of concurrent changes in screening. More than half of high-grade cervical lesions that can lead to cancer are caused by persistent HPV infection that can be prevented if a person receives an HPV vaccine. Monitoring trends in the incidence of these lesions is helpful for evaluating the impact of HPV vaccination.