Vaccines for HPV and Herpes Zoster Could Prevent More People from Getting Diseases

Adjust font size Save for Later Email to Friends Print Mode
Submit your own content on this or any topic. Get started.
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, vaccines have been effective in making measles, mumps, and rubella rare diseases in the United States . Vaccines have played an important role when it comes to preventing infectious disease, and now two vaccines that have been approved by the FDA are also proving themselves effective in protecting people from diseases that could be life-threatening, according to the AAD. These two recent vaccines are the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and the herpes zoster vaccine.

Yesterday, August 1, Stephen K Tyring, MD, PhD, FAAD, professor of dermatology and professor of microbiology molecular genetics and internal medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, Texas, discussed the safety and efficacy of these vaccines at the American Academy of Dermatology's Summer Academyu Meeting 2007, according to the AAD. He also discussed innovative ways that vaccines could be administered in the future.

The HPC vaccine was approved by the by the FDA in 2006 to prevent HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18. The AAD says hat HPV types 6 and 11 are responsible for over 90% of genital warts cases. They say that HPV types 16 and 18 are the cause of 70% of all cervical cancers. Dr Tyring says that some people are hesitant to use the HPV vaccine despite its approval by the FDA. He says that they are concerned about the skeptical about the safety of all vaccines and that they often do not understand who should be vaccinated and when an appropriate time for this is, according to the AAD.

Dr Tyring calls the HPV vaccine "the medical breakthrough of the 21st century." He says that the "vaccine has the potential to save countless lives in future generations of women."

The herpes zoster vaccine could protect the estimated 1 million people who develop shingles in the US every year, according to AAD. Dr Tyring says that "the recent introduction of the herpes zoster vaccine is a unique use of a vaccine in that it is not intended to prevent an infection, but for the prevention of a recurrence of the infection." Dr Tyring says that this vaccine contains the chickenpox virus. Because of this "there is a chance that it could cause the chickenpox infection and should not be administered to anyone who has not had the chickenpox or patients with compromised or weakened immune systems."

A fear of needles prevents some people from getting the vaccines that could save their lives. Some vaccines are now being administered through intranasal, oral, or topical methods so that they do not have to be injected. According to AAD, Dr Tyring suggested that compliance with vaccines increases when they do not have to be administered with needles.