Age Limit of New Cervical Cancer Vaccine

Why the age limit on the new cervical cancer vaccine? Ages 12-26 only…?

The theory is that by 26 you’ll probably have been sexually active for too long for the vaccine to take effect. I know that essentially its vaccinating you against an STD that can cause cervical cancer –

 however you don’t necessarily get the cancer if you’re exposed, but you build the antibodies – like the vaccine does.
Because those are the ages of the women tested…which is stupid. 

Check it out.

Why is the HPV vaccine only recommended for girls/women ages 9 to 26?


The vaccine has been widely tested in 9-to-26 year-old girls/women. But research on the vaccine’s safety and efficacy has only recently begun with women older than 26 years of age. The FDA will consider licensing the vaccine for these women when there is research to show that it is safe and effective for them.

I don’t know much about this new cervical cancer vaccine. Please help somone!

The vaccine will only work if you are not sexually active. Once you have sex, you run the risk of getting HPV. The vaccine will not treat or cure HPV. Therefore, if you have HPV, the vacinne will not work. This is why there is an age restricition.
THe second answer is rubbish.

The real answer is that once you start having sex it’s too late- you may have already acquired the infection. The vacine prevents, it cannot cure.
Probably in the future this will be given to all young girls, just like rubella.
I think the vaccine you are referring to is Gardasil, which is approved for women age 9-26.

The reason the vaccine is approved for these ages has to do with how drug approval takes place in the US. The company that makes the vaccine (Merck) has to perform clinical studies which prove the vaccine is both safe and effective. For various reasons, the group they chose to use for the studies consisted only of women between the ages of 9 and 26 who weren’t previously exposed to the strains of HPV targeted by the vaccine. As a result, the FDA could only approve the drug for use in the this age group.

The truth is that there isn’t any evidence that the vaccine won’t work in women over 26. In fact, studies may eventually be completed in older women and the vaccine may then receive FDA approval for this age group as well.

Many of the other posts are correct in that the vaccine probably won’t help someone who has already been exposed to the strains of HPV targeted by the vaccine. (Once again, we really don’t have enough data to know for sure.) As a result, many physicians feel it makes the most sense to vaccinate women before they become sexually active and have the chance to acquire the virus.
As with all health issues, if you have questions you should make an appointment and talk with your doctor.

I am interested in knowing why woman over the age of 26 can’t get the new papillomavirus vaccine