Welcome back, everyone.
January is cervical Health Awareness Month,
a time for women to not only take
stock of their personal health,
but also highlight the importance
of the HPV vaccination,
which helps prevent certain cancers.
Here to tell us more is Doctor
Paul Mayer from Kaiser Permanente.
Thank you so much for being here.
Such an important topic.
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for having me. Of course.
Of course. Well, let's first talk
about an establish why cervical
health has really become so
prominent over the last few years.
Absolutely. So cervical cancer.
Is highly preventable cancer
something that we have a great
screening tool and actually a great
vaccine now that can prevent folks
from getting cervical cancer.
So cervical cancer and awareness
about cervical health is just
really important for women. So,
yeah, exactly.
And I know that these screenings,
as you mentioned, so,
so important and receiving
the vaccine important as well.
So talk more about that.
Yeah. So we've developed a
cervical cancer screening tool
that's really been around since
the 1950s and it's really helped.
Reduce the number of cervical cancer
cases in the United States drastically.
And that's the Pap smear,
which a lot of women are familiar with.
But the HPV vaccine is also another
tool that we have to help prevent
cervical cancer that's really been
developed in the last 20 to 30 years.
And cervical cancer in and of
itself is related to HPV.
So getting the vaccine can really prevent
you from developing cervical cancer.
OK, now just to put it in layman's
terms for us, what is HPV? HPV
is, it stands for the human papilloma virus.
And what that is,
is a a family of viruses.
It's more than actually just one.
There are over 100 strains of HPV.
Wow. And so try HPV has been linked
to 99.7% of all cervical cancers.
And so taking the vaccine
can really prevent folks from
from developing these cancers.
And what other illnesses does the HPV
vaccine actually help protect us against?
So the currently available HPV
vaccine in the United States
actually prevents against multiple
different types of cancers.
Specifically cervical,
but also other anogenital cancers,
mouth and throat cancers
as well as genital warts.
So it's a really important vaccine,
OK and I, I know when I
go get my my daughters,
I have 214 and 12 and I think it
was when she was 12, my oldest,
that they started talking about.
You know, that it was it was time.
So, but the important thing that I
want to make mention of is that you
say it's not just women and girls,
but boys should get it as well,
starting about that age.
Absolutely, yeah.
So HPV is common in the in the United
States population really all sexually
active individuals are exposed to HPV.
And so the vaccine is for both boys and
girls and it really helps prevent the
spread of of HPV and the population.
Right. And was that about
the right, the right age?
Yeah, age 9 to 14 is typically the
recommended age really ideally
before you're exposed to HB.
Got it. OK that makes sense.
And a series of shots, right?
I know there's two or is
there now, is there even more
depends on your age.
So if you're you start the dose.
Between 9:00 and 14,
you really only need two doses.
But if you get the vaccine
after the age of 14,
it's a three shot series,
OK. And that was gonna be my
next question because experts
recommend the HG just said,
but if you are age maybe 27
to 45 and you haven't been,
should you still get vaccinated?
Absolutely. Yeah.
The vaccines been FDA approved
now up to the age of 45 and
so it's a three shot series.
If you get the shot after the age of 15,
like I said, it's a shot.
Followed by another one at two months
and then a third dose at six months.
OK, makes sense. And and quickly
you mentioned about the Pap smear.
I know that it seems like I don't know
for a while I thought as a as an adult
woman I was getting it every year,
but now I don't it, it seems like it
doesn't need to happen every year.
Is that correct?
Yeah. And that's part of,
you know the confusion I think that's
out there now that you're not getting
your pap smear every year anymore
because we've incorporated another
screening modality for patients,
another screening tool which is
testing HPV on the on the Pap smear.
Example, right.
I think the most important thing
for everybody to remember is just
getting to your doctor once a year.
Yeah. And letting your doctor have a
conversation with you about whether
or not Pap smear testing is needed.
Yeah. It's so, so true.
Thank you so much, Doctor.
This is such an important topic.
We appreciate your time and
your your great insight.
And we'd like to thank Kaiser Permanente
for sponsoring that important.