How does the new HPV shot work as a vaccine?

Question

How does the HPV shot work? How effective is the shot? Who profits from providing the HPV shot? Is the HPV shot expensive?

Answer 1

The HPV vaccine targets the certain sexual transmitted disease of strains of HPV that are associated with cervical cancer and genital warts. The only approved vaccine of HPV in marketing is Gardasil. A second vaccine, Cervarix, is currently in clinical trials.


The vaccines have been shown to offer 100 percent protection against the development of cervical pre-cancers and genital warts caused by the HPV types in the vaccine, with few or no side effects.

Answer 2

The National Cancer Institute has a great slideshow on the vaccine.

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/understandingcancer/HPV-vaccine

This is a snip:

The virus-like particles in the HPV vaccine, like the real human papillomavirus, have the same outer L1 protein coat, but they have no genetic material inside. This structure enables the vaccine to induce a strong protective immune response.

The Gardasil vaccine is grown in a yeast medium.

Gardasil is thought to prevent a woman before any sexual exposure from 4 HPV types. Two low risk HPV types 6 and 11 and two high risk HPV types 16 and 18.

Gardasil research included women up to age 26. Gardasil information tells us that women up to this age may not have acquired all 4 HPV types and it could benefit them to receive their vaccine. Gardasil does not provide any treatment for those HPV types that we have already acquired. Gardasil is in clinical trails for the male.

At this time research has shown that the vaccine provides an immune response for 5 years. Long-term use is unknown. Girls and women that receive this vaccine may need to get a booster.

They are over 30 high and low risk HPV types. This vaccine only prevents 4 HPV types.

It will take many years before we know the full benefits of the vaccine and men will also need to receive the vaccine. We are many, many years away from eliminated cervical, vulva, vaginal, anal and oral cancer that are caused by high risk HPV types. HPV causes a financial burden in regards to federal funds, insurance cost and heavy out of pocket cost of the women who have acquired high-risk HPV types. 3,700 thousand women here in the US die each year due to cervical cancer 11,000 women are diagnosed each year with cervical cancer the American Cancer Society estimates 4 times this are treated due to high risk lesions. World wide the deaths due to this virus are tremendous. The vaccine can provide a huge difference.

Merck stands to gain lots of dollars but Glasko Smith Kline has submitted for approval with the FDA a vaccine that will prevent two 16 and 18 possibility more high-risk HPV types.

The vaccine cost the doctors $120.00 per does (three in series). Gardasil is the most expensive vaccine yet... This cost does not include the doctor’s office visit. Not all insurances are covering the vaccine.

Answer 3

The new HPV vaccine consists of virus like particles (VLPs). VLPs consist of viral protein(s) derived from the structural proteins of a virus. In some cases these proteins are embedded within a lipid bilayer. These particles resemble the virus from which they were derived but lack viral nucleic acid, meaning that they are not infectious. The human papillomavirus (HPV) and Hepatitis B vaccines are the first virus-like particle based vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Studies have found the vaccine to be almost 100% effective in preventing diseases caused by the four HPV types covered by the vaccine– including precancers of the cervix, vulva and vagina, and genital warts. The vaccine has mainly been studied in young women who had not been exposed to any of the four HPV types in the vaccine.

The vaccine was less effective in young women who had already been exposed to one of the HPV types covered by the vaccine.

The HPV vaccine is recommended for 11-12 year-old girls, and can be given to girls as young as 9. The vaccine is also recommended for 13-26 year-old girls/women who have not yet received or completed the vaccine series.

Females who are sexually active may also benefit from the vaccine. But they may get less benefit from the vaccine since they may have already acquired one or more HPV type(s) covered by the vaccine. Few young women are infected with all four of these HPV types. So they would still get protection from those types they have not acquired. Currently, there is no test available to tell if a girl/woman has had any or all of these four HPV types.

The retail price of the vaccine is $120 per dose ($360 for full series).

http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/STDFact-HPV-vaccine.htm#hpvvac2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virus-like_particle

Answer 4

like most other vaccines the inject a small amount of the live virus into ur system allowing ur body to make antibodies naturally thus building up ur immunity to that specific virus

Answer 5

Please see the web pages for more details on HPV vaccine-Gardasil.