FILE - A child health nurse holds up a vial and box for the HPV vaccine, brand name Gardasil, at a clinic in Kinston, N.C. on Monday March 5, 2012. A vaccine against a cervical cancer virus has cut infections in teen girls by half, according to a study released Wednesday, June 19, 2013. The study confirms research done before the HPV vaccine came on the market in 2006. But this is the first evidence of how well it works now that it is in general use. (AP Photo/Daily Free Press, Charles Buchanan)
June 19, 2013 - 10:31 AM
ATLANTA - Researchers say a vaccine for a sexually spread virus has cut infections in teen girls by half.
This is the first evidence of how well the HPV vaccine works since it came on the market seven years ago.
For girls ages 14 to 19, the study found a 56 per cent reduction in the types of HPV virus targeted by the shots. Vaccination campaigns focus on girls ages 11 and 12.
Many men and women are infected with the human papillomavirus during their life. Most don't develop symptoms and clear the infection on their own. But some infections lead to genital warts, cervical cancer and other cancers.
Results of the study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were released Wednesday.
News from © The Associated Press, 2013