What are the effects and functions of postpartum HPV vaccine? Can postpartum HPV vaccine prevent cervical cancer?

Cervical cancer refers to a malignant tumor that occurs in the female cervix. It is one of the most common malignant tumors, and its incidence ranks second among female tumors. It is known as a "killer that endangers women's health." It has been proven that HPV infection in the reproductive tract is closely related to cervical cancer. Humans are infected with HPV. All women who have sex are likely to be infected through sexual contact. For women, the lifetime infection rate of HPV can reach 80%. In other words, 80% of women are infected with HPV throughout their lives, but those infected with HPV do not necessarily develop cervical cancer. Therefore, many female friends will wonder, can cervical cancer be cured? If you insist on getting the HPV vaccine after giving birth, it can effectively prevent cervical cancer.

Can cervical cancer be cured? HPV vaccine can prevent cervical cancer

HPV vaccine was approved by the FDA for marketing in the United States on June 8, 2006. The advent of the HPV vaccine is a major breakthrough in the medical field. This is one of the cancers caused by human identified viruses and can be prevented by vaccines. The HPV quad vaccine prevents infection with HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18. The FDA has approved the HPV vaccine for use in types 11 to 26. It is estimated that the vaccine's protection period can last for 5 to 6 years.

What are the problems with HPV vaccines at present? Experts say that the price of HPV vaccines is relatively expensive, and three doses are required to complete the entire immunization process. The cost is equivalent to more than 4,000 yuan. This is a huge burden for individuals and countries. Many countries cannot afford it, especially developing countries. The main direction of future efforts is to reduce the price of vaccines. On the other hand, the vaccines that have been approved for marketing are the existing vaccines that have no therapeutic effect on HPV-infected people.

Why are pregnant women more likely to develop cervical cancer?

The results show that each pregnancy and childbirth will cause the cervix to become more and more everted, making the transition zone between the internal and external openings of the cervix more easily exposed during sexual intercourse, increasing the possibility of viral invasion.

According to statistics, the risk of pregnant women infected with HPV (Human papillomavirus, abbreviated as HPV in English, after infection, patients may develop gynecological cancers such as cervical cancer and oropharyngeal cancer, and male cancers such as penile cancer. If there is no effective treatment in the early stage, the mortality rate in the later stage will be higher. Feedback data after HPV vaccination shows that the overall risk of preventing related cancers after vaccination is about 90%, and the vaccination effect is very obvious) is twice that of non-childbearing women; the probability of infection with the highly carcinogenic HPV type 16 virus is even as high as 6 times. Fortunately, pregnant women are also the group that obstetricians can most easily grasp, so pregnant women are encouraged to get the cervical cancer vaccine during the postpartum follow-up visit.

Studies have shown that even if you are infected with HPV, vaccination is still effective, but it can also stimulate more antibodies to fight carcinogenic viruses, enhance resistance, and will not affect breastfeeding.

HPV testing can improve early detection rates

HPV is spread through sexual contact, and women can be infected even if they have only had one sexual partner, or have not had sex for many years. HPV infection is asymptomatic and can be cleared by the body's natural immune system. However, when symptoms do occur, the cancer is usually in an advanced stage and difficult to treat. Therefore, early detection is necessary.

The cervix is ​​equivalent to the gate of the uterus, and has the functions of defense and protection. Due to the special status of the cervix, it is vulnerable to invasion by foreign bacteria and viruses. Coupled with the trauma caused by childbirth and abortion, and the special morphological changes of the cervical epithelial tissue, the cervical epithelium is prone to inflammation and transformation into malignant changes. Although the cause of cervical cancer is not yet fully understood, according to data, sexual disorders (multiple sexual partners), early sexual life, intensive delivery, multiple births and other STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) receiving immunosuppressant treatment, smoking, drug abuse, cervical lesions, cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, vaginal cancer or vulvar cancer are high-risk factors for cervical cancer.

It is a long process from cervical precancerous lesions to cervical cancer. HPV can lurk in the body for 10 years or even longer without any symptoms. Therefore, taking HPV testing as part of routine screening can improve the early detection rate through early detection. The cure rate of cervical precancerous lesions is as high as 98%, ultimately preventing the occurrence of cervical cancer.

HPV testing is recommended for women who can have sex after the age of 30. If the test result is negative, it means that there is no HPV infection and there is no long-term risk of cervical cancer; if the test result is positive, it does not necessarily indicate cervical cancer and can be combined with further colposcopy. Only persistent infection can eventually develop into cervical cancer.