HPV vaccine and age- conflicting studies/news reports

[carriebft]

This was in my alerts box today:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/boos...der-women.html

It is a study about age and effectiveness of the vaccine:

Data on how the women faired after four years will become available later this year, according to Merck, the manufacturer of Gardasil. Based on that data, the company is expected to ask the Food and Drug Administration to approve the vaccine for women ages 25 to 45, thus opening the door to insurance reimbursement. The vaccine costs about $500.

Yet not too long ago I posted this thread:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...&highlight=hpv

about an analysis that said the vaccine effectiveness dropped drastically and there was little benefit after the age of 20.

[Devaskyla]

Wasn't there something about it causing cancer if you've had HPV? I thought the whole point was to give it to the younger crowd because they're a lot less likely to have had it. Opening it up to older women seems like a recipe for disaster to me if that's true.

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by Devaskyla

Wasn't there something about it causing cancer if you've had HPV? I thought the whole point was to give it to the younger crowd because they're a lot less likely to have had it. Opening it up to older women seems like a recipe for disaster to me if that's true.

Yup..I read this as well. There was a huge concern about interviewing teens in front of their parents because they would most likely not be honest if asked if they had had sex (and thus possibly have been exposed to HPV already)And this is for any strain of HPV. Most women over 25 have been exposed to HPV. I see a disaster in the making as well.