Young women most at risk least likely to be offered HPV jab

Uptake for HPV jab below 80 percent required to make significant impact on cervical cancer

2014-03-18

(Press-News.org) Young women who are most at risk of developing cervical cancer are the least likely to be offered the protective HPV jab and to complete the full course when they are, reveals research published online in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.

These women need to be better targeted to boost the overall uptake of the vaccination programme, which was well below the 80% required to make a significant difference to cervical cancer rates during its first three years of operation, say the authors.

They base their findings on responses to anonymous questionnaires completed by 2247 young women aged 13 to 19, and comparative national lifestyle data for this age group.

All the participants were attending sexual health clinics located in 19 hospitals and 13 community services across England between March and August 2011.

The survey respondents had much higher rates of factors known to increase the risk of developing cervical cancer than their peer group, as evidenced from the national data.

These included smoking - 48% vs 14% of 15 year olds - first sex under the age of 16 - 52% vs 38% (among 16-19 year olds) - and previous sexually transmitted infections - 25% vs 4%.

Twice as many survey respondents as the population average were not in education, training or work, known as NEETs (8% vs 2%). They also had a higher prevalence of smoking and more sexual partners.

Three out of four (74%) respondents had been offered the HPV jab, mostly in schools (60%).

But this overall rate was significantly lower among those living in London (66%); those whose ethnicity was not white (64-69%); 17 to 19 year olds (67%); NEETs (49%); smokers (69%); and those with a previous sexually transmitted infection (63%).

While two thirds (65%) of those offered the jab, took it up, completion rates were significantly lower among London respondents (58%); non-white ethnicities (42-56%);17 to 19 year olds (62%); NEETs (48%); smokers (59%); and those with a previous sexually transmitted infection (53%).

Over half (57%) of those who refused the jab when offered it, said they might have accepted if they/their parents/friends had been better informed about its purpose, while around one in five (22%) said they had not been followed up.

Low participation in the HPV vaccination programme puts these women at risk of developing cervical cancer, and may also extend into adulthood and so affect their uptake of cervical cancer screening, warn the authors.

Low participation may also undermine the effectiveness of the programme, they add.

"Although the [Department of Health] has no explicit targets for vaccine completion, modelling work predicted a significant impact on cervical cancer deaths with an 80% uptake of all three doses," they write.

INFORMATION: [Uptake of the HPV vaccination programme in England: a cross sectional survey of young women attending sexual health services Online First doi 10.1136/sextrans-2013-051179]

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

CF Foundation and CF care expert partnership yields striking progress for people with cystic fibrosi

2014-03-18

A decade of strategic efforts to improve care has had a key role in improving quality of life and added years to predicted survival for people with cystic fibrosis (CF) in the United States, according to the editors of a BMJ Quality & Safety supplement dedicated to the disease. Health outcomes for CF have improved dramatically following implementation of an innovative and aggressive plan to promote quality improvement at CF care centres. This includes benchmarking comparisons of current care with best practice; use of a patient registry to track outcomes; patient ...

The Lancet: China halves tuberculosis prevalence in just 20 years

2014-03-18

Over the last 20 years, China has more than halved its tuberculosis (TB) prevalence, with rates falling from 170 to 59 per 100 000 population. This unrivalled success has been driven by a massive scale-up of the directly observed, short-course (DOTS) strategy, from half the population in the 1990s to the entire country after 2000, according to findings from a 20-year-long analysis of national survey data, published in The Lancet. "One of the key global TB targets set by the Stop TB Partnership aims to reduce tuberculosis prevalence by 50% between 1990 and 2015. This study ...

Toward 'vanishing' electronics and unlocking nanomaterials' power potential

2014-03-17

DALLAS, March 17, 2014 — Brain sensors and electronic tags that dissolve. Boosting the potential of renewable energy sources. These are examples of the latest research from two pioneering scientists selected as this year's Kavli lecturers at the 247th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society. The meeting features more than 10,000 presentations from the frontiers of chemical research, and is being held here through Thursday. Two of these talks are supported by The Kavli Foundation, a philanthropic organization ...

Annals of Internal Medicine tip sheet for March 18, 2014

2014-03-17

1. Evidence does not support guidelines on fatty acid consumption to reduce coronary risk Current evidence does not support nutritional guidelines that advocate high consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids and low consumption of total saturated fats, according to an article being published in Annals of Internal Medicine. For cardiovascular health, nutritional guidelines generally encourage low consumption of saturated fats, high consumption of w-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, and avoidance of trans fats. However, uncertainties in available evidence have contributed ...

Children's preferences for sweeter and saltier tastes are linked to each other

2014-03-17

Philadelphia (March 17, 2014) – Scientists from the Monell Chemical Senses Center have found that children who most prefer high levels of sweet tastes also most prefer high levels of salt taste and that, in general, children prefer sweeter and saltier tastes than do adults. These preferences relate not only to food intake but also to measures of growth and can have important implications for efforts to change children's diets. Many illnesses of modern society are related to poor food choices. Because children consume far more sugar and salt than recommended, which contributes ...

Hepatitis C remains major problem for HIV patients despite antiretroviral therapy

2014-03-17

PHILADELPHIA—A new study led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has found that the risk of hepatitis C-associated serious liver disease persists in HIV patients otherwise benefitting from antiretroviral therapy (ART) to treat HIV. It has been suggested that ART slows hepatitis C-associated liver fibrosis; however, whether rates of severe liver complications in patients co-infected with HIV and hepatitis C receiving ART were similar to those with just hepatitis C remained unclear. The study, published in the March 18 ...

Closer to detecting preeclampsia

2014-03-17

Identifying biomarkers could lead to earlier detection of preeclampsia, which in turn can lead to healthier mothers and children, according to a collaborative study from the Centre of Molecular Inflammation Research (CEMIR) and the MR Cancer Group at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Their findings, "Metabolomic Biomarkers in Serum and Urine in Women with Preeclampsia," will be published in PLOS ONE on 17 March. "We have found that the metabolism in women who experience preeclampsia is clearly different from women with normal pregnancies. The ...

New evidence raises questions about the link between fatty acids and heart disease

2014-03-17

A new study raises questions about current guidelines which generally restrict the consumption of saturated fats and encourage consumption of polyunsaturated fats to prevent heart disease. The research was published today, 18 March, in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. An international research collaboration led by the University of Cambridge analysed existing cohort studies and randomised trials on coronary risk and fatty acid intake. They showed that current evidence does not support guidelines which restrict the consumption of saturated fats in order to prevent ...

Knowing whether food has spoiled without even opening the container (video)

2014-03-17

DALLAS, March 17, 2014 — A color-coded smart tag could tell consumers whether a carton of milk has turned sour or a can of green beans has spoiled without opening the containers, according to researchers. The tag, which would appear on the packaging, also could be used to determine if medications and other perishable products were still active or fresh, they said. This report on the color-changing food deterioration tags was presented today as part of the 247th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society. ...

Better continuity of care for elderly pataients cuts costs and complications, study finds

2014-03-17

Improving the coordination of care for elderly patients with chronic diseases trims costs, reduces use of health services and cuts complications, according to a new RAND Corporation study. Studying a large group of Medicare patients, researchers found that even modest improvements in the continuity of care among patients with diabetes, congestive heart failure or emphysema were associated with sizable reductions in use of hospital emergency departments and hospitalizations. The findings, published online by JAMA Internal Medicine, suggest that improving the coordination ...

Inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 upregulates the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 signaling pathway to mitigate hepatocyte ferroptosis in chronic liver injury

Young women most at risk least likely to be offered HPV jab

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: