The human papilloma virus vaccine : the do's and don'ts

Abstract

There are currently two vaccines against HPV in the market-bivalent and a tetravalent vaccine. However, due to cross-immunity these vaccines protect against a proportion of those strains which may lead to cervical carcinoma. Hence, one has to be clear and understand that these vaccines may not fully protect everyone and certainly do not prevent all types of cervical cancer. These strains of the virus are transmitted sexually, so the use of these vaccines should not give a false sense of security and it is very important that regular cervical screening should not be stopped.