HPV vaccination does not lead to an increase in sex

A study published in Vaccine reveals that contrary to recent discussions, the HPV vaccination does not increase sexual activity in adolescent girls

2012-10-10

(Press-News.org) There have been claims recently that the HPV (Human papillomavirus) vaccination increases sexual activity in adolescent girls as it effectively gives them a 'green light' to have sex because of a perceived protection against sexually transmitted infections. This study published in Vaccine, examines whether or not there is any influence on sexual behaviour as a result of being offered or given the vaccination.

The study looked at a cross-section of over 1,052 girls in the UK, with a mean age of 17.1 years. Of these, 433 had been offered the HPV vaccine and 620 had not yet been offered the vaccine. Results showed that the group of girls who had been offered the HPV vaccine were no more likely to be sexually active than the group of girls who had not yet been offered it. Those who had been vaccinated (148 participants), were no more likely to have changed their condom use or increased their total number of sexual partners than the unvaccinated group (259 participants); providing evidence that neither being offered the vaccine or receiving the vaccine has an effect on the sexual behaviour of adolescent girls.

###Notes for editors

This article is "Human papillomavirus vaccination and sexual behaviour: Cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys conducted in England" by Alice S. Forster, Laura A.V. Marlow, Judith Stephenson, Jane Wardle and Jo Waller (DOI 10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.05.053) and appears in Vaccine published by Elsevier.

The article is available to credentialed journalists at no charge through free access to ScienceDirect, the world's largest repository of scientific information. Please use your ScienceDirect media login and password to access the full text research paper. For a new media login, forgotten password or if you have any specific questions, please contact newsroom@elsevier.com

If you are a credentialed journalist and are interested in receiving other research alerts from Elsevier, please sign up for Elsevier's Monthly Research Selection (EMRS) - a monthly email developed by the Elsevier Newsroom which highlights new, interesting, interesting or otherwise intriguing research articles for health and science media. The full text research articles included are peer reviewed and have been publicly available for no more than 4-6 weeks (they are usually articles-in-press). They have not been press-released nor covered in the media (that we are aware of) and they are not embargoed.

If you would like to sign up for the EMRS please send an email to newsroom@elsevier.com

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

CSIC researchers find the exact spot where Julius Caesar was stabbed

2012-10-10

A concrete structure of three meters wide and over two meters high, placed by order of Augustus (adoptive son and successor of Julius Caesar) to condemn the assassination of his father, has given the key to the scientists. This finding confirms that the General was stabbed right at the bottom of the Curia of Pompey while he was presiding, sitting on a chair, over a meeting of the Senate. Currently, the remains of this building are located in the archaeological area of Torre Argentina, right in the historic centre of the Roman capital. Antonio Monterroso, CSIC researcher ...

Halving food losses would feed an additional billion people

2012-10-10

More efficient use of the food production chain and a decrease in the amount of food losses will dramatically help maintaining the planet's natural resources and improve people's lives. Researchers in Aalto University, Finland, have proved a valid estimation, for the first time, for how many people could be fed with reducing food losses. The world's population is an estimated seven billion people. An additional one billion can be fed from our current resources, if the food losses could be halved. This can be achieved if the lowest loss percentage achieved in any region ...

Return to Bremerhaven

2012-10-10

Polarstern is expected back from the Central Arctic expedition "IceArc" in Bremerhaven on 8 October 2012 after a good two months. 54 scientists and technicians from twelve different countries conducted research on the retreat of the sea ice and the consequences for the Arctic Ocean and its ecosystems over a period of two months in the High North. A number of new technologies were used for to film and photograph life in and below the ice down to a depth of 4400 metres. Since its departure from Tromsø (Norway) on 2 August 2012 Polarstern has travelled some 12,000 kilometres ...

Sitting on top of the world

2012-10-10

Do you have it in mind to go to a mountain top and study beetles that nobody else has ever seen? Well, there are two fewer such mountains available now that beetle species discovered on Mont Tohiea and Mont Mauru in the Society Islands have been named. James Liebherr, Curator of the Cornell University Insect Collection, has just described 14 species of predatory carabid beetle, also called ground beetles, as part of a U.S. National Science Foundation team that surveyed the insects and spiders of French Polynesia. Liebherr described the species in two papers published ...

Study: Parenting more important than schools to academic achievement

2012-10-10

New research from North Carolina State University, Brigham Young University and the University of California, Irvine finds that parental involvement is a more significant factor in a child's academic performance than the qualities of the school itself. "Our study shows that parents need to be aware of how important they are, and invest time in their children – checking homework, attending school events and letting kids know school is important," says Dr. Toby Parcel, a professor of sociology at NC State and co-author of a paper on the work. "That's where the payoff is." The ...

Are liberal arts colleges disappearing?

2012-10-10

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Liberal arts colleges continue redefining their historical missions or flat-out disappearing – a trend that threatens to diminish America's renowned higher education system, argues a study co-authored by a Michigan State University scholar. Of the 212 liberal arts colleges identified in a landmark 1990 study, only 130 remain in their traditional form – a 39 percent reduction, according to the new research. While some liberal arts schools have closed or become part of larger universities due to financial problems, Roger Baldwin, MSU professor of ...

A tactile glove provides subtle guidance to objects in the vicinity

2012-10-10

Researchers at HIIT and Max Planck Institute for Informatics show how computer vision -based hand tracking and vibration feedback on the user's hand can be used to steer the user's hand toward an object of interest. A study shows an almost three-fold advantage in finding objects from complex visual scenes, such as library or supermarket shelves. Finding an object from a complex real-world scene is a common yet time-consuming and frustrating chore. What makes this task complex is that humans' pattern recognition capability reduces to a serial one-by-one search when the ...

Angel investor market in steady recovery, UNH Center for Venture Research finds

2012-10-10

DURHAM, N.H. – The angel investor market in the first two quarters of 2012 showed signs of steady recovery since the correction in the second half of 2008 and the first half of 2009, with total investments at $9.2 billion, an increase of 3.1 percent over the same period in 2011, according to the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire. A total of 27,280 entrepreneurial ventures received angel funding during the first half of 2012, a 3.7 percent increase from the same period in 2011, and the number of active investors in Q1 and Q2 2012 was 131,145 ...

Biologists describe details of new mechanism for molecular interactions

2012-10-10

UPTON, NY-Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, with collaborators from Harvard University, the University of Madrid, Princeton University, and the University of Zurich, have discovered a new mechanism that may alter principle understandings of molecular interactions within a cell's nucleus. The discovery illustrates how two proteins of the human adenovirus use DNA as an efficient form of transportation inside a newly synthesized virus particle. The proteins use what the scientists are calling a "molecular sled," which slides ...

From lectures to explosives detection: Laser pointer identifies dangerous chemicals in real-time

2012-10-10

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2012—By using an ordinary green laser pointer, the kind commonly found in offices and college lecture halls, an Israeli research team has developed a new and highly portable Raman spectrometer that can detect extremely minute traces of hazardous chemicals in real time. The new sensor's compact design makes it an excellent candidate for rapid field deployment to disaster zones and areas with security concerns. The researchers will present their findings at Laser Science XXVIII—the American Physical Society Division of Laser Science's Annual Meeting—collocated ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Scientists reveal our best- and worst-case scenarios for a warming Antarctica

Cleaner fish show intelligence typical of mammals

AABNet and partners launch landmark guide on the conservation of African livestock genetic resources and sustainable breeding strategies

Produce hydrogen and oxygen simultaneously from a single atom! Achieve carbon neutrality with an 'All-in-one' single-atom water electrolysis catalyst

Sleep loss linked to higher atrial fibrillation risk in working-age adults

Visible light-driven deracemization of α-aryl ketones synergistically catalyzed by thiophenols and chiral phosphoric acid

Most AI bots lack basic safety disclosures, study finds

How competitive gaming on discord fosters social connections

CU Anschutz School of Medicine receives best ranking in NIH funding in 20 years

Mayo Clinic opens patient information office in Cayman Islands

Phonon lasers unlock ultrabroadband acoustic frequency combs

Babies with an increased likelihood of autism may struggle to settle into deep, restorative sleep, according to a new study from the University of East Anglia.