HVP vaccines prophylactic, not therapeutic

BETHESDA, Md., Aug. 15 (UPI) -- For women with human papillomavirus infection, the HPV-16/18 vaccine should not be used to treat the infection, a U.S. researcher advised.

Allan Hildesheim of the National Cancer Institute, in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues conducted a trial in Costa Rica that included 2,189 women ages 18 to 25, who were positive for HPV DNA. Participants were randomly assigned to receive three doses of HPV-16/18 vaccine, or a control hepatitis A vaccine over six months.

There was no evidence that the HPV vaccination significantly altered rates of viral clearance, reported the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In an accompanying editorial in the journal, Dr. Lauri E. Markowitz, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta, said that "because the vaccine has no therapeutic efficacy, the greatest effect will be realized if the vaccine is administered before sexual debut, prior to exposure to HPV."