Push for more high school students to be immunised against HPV

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By Charmaine Kane

Health authorities have launched a new campaign aimed at getting more high school students immunised against a virus that can cause cervical and other cancers.

Medicare Local said the number of children immunised against human papillomavirus (HPV) on the Gold Coast was significantly lower than in other parts of Queensland.

GP Linda Beecham said there were a number of reasons for the discrepancy.

“People believe that if their children weren’t sexually active they wouldn’t be exposed to this virus and while that is quite true, the whole point of vaccinating at this younger age of grade eight is to hopefully allow them to develop antibodies when we know it is going to be a good response in that age group and to develop antibodies before they ever do become sexually active,” she said.

The immunisation is offered to boys and girls in grade eight.

Dr Beecham said cervical cancer rates had declined by 70 per cent in the seven years or so that the vaccine had been offered.

“The figures from the Gold Coast indicate that roughly one in three or one in five people under the age of 30 carry the HPV virus, which is the wart virus, and if you have contact with the wart virus you are much more likely to develop the early stages of cervical cancer which then can progress to invasive cancer, so already seeing a 70 per cent reduction in cases of cervical cancer is a huge outcome so far,” she said.

Health authorities are intensifying their campaign to get Gold Coast high school students immunised against HPV.

Medicare Local said immunisation consent forms for year eight students would be sent to parents within the week.

“On the Gold Coast our rates are significantly less than the rest of the state and we think that might be due to parents not necessarily completing the consent forms, boys not necessarily knowing they are eligible and children just not being at school the days the vaccines are on offer or out to sport or out to exams,” Dr Beecham said.