HPV Vaccination Does not Lead to an Increase in Sex

AMSTERDAM, October 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

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

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 [email protected] 

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 [email protected]

SOURCE Elsevier

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED